Jam Filled Muffins

You might have figured out by now that we're big fans of muffins that are filled with all sorts of deliciousness.  Remember our Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, and our Peanut Butter Chocolate Muffins (well...cupcakes)?  

Here's another glorious filled muffin - this one is perfect to help celebrate warmer weather. It is tender and vanilla scented (real vanilla beans are so great in this recipe), filled with jam, and topped with sweet nutty streusel.  I've been serving this at brunches with great success!

An aside: don't be intimidated by filled muffins.  They are SO easy. Instead of adding all the muffin batter at once, you just spoon in a little bit of batter to start, top with a dollop of jam, and then cover all that up with the rest of the batter. The worst thing that's ever happened to me is a jam swirl in the center, rather than a perfect jam middle.  And guess what - the jam swirl is delicious too.  It's a win win.

Here's my recipe.  I recommend using a fruit-forward jammy preserve that you love.  We are big fans of Modern Gingham (made in Denver with local organic fruit and so so good!) but we've had success with all sorts of jams.  Enjoy!

Jam Filled Muffins

• 3/4 cup milk

• 1/3 oil

• 2 eggs

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 real vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

• 2 cups flour

• 1 Tbsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup fruit jam

Streusel Topping

• 1/3 cup brown sugar

• 1/3 cup sliced or chopped almonds

• 3 Tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400 and line a muffin tin with paper cups.

First make the streusel. In a small bowl, combine almonds, brown sugar and 3 tablespoons butter. Using your fingers, work the butter into the sugar and almonds until blended. Pop into fridge to chill as you complete the remaining steps.

Next, combine the wet ingredients (milk, oil, and eggs) in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir well to combine.  Lastly, add the dry ingredients (flour and baking powder) and stir until the batter is smooth and uniform.

Spoon about a Tbsp of batter into the bottom of each muffin cup. This batter isn't too stiff so it usually smooths out easily over the bottoms of the cups.  Next add about a Tbsp of jam on top of the batter.  Lastly, top with the remaining batter. I try to use less batter on the bottom than on the top - that seems to make these come out more nicely.

Sprinkle each muffin with the streusel topping.  Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

When it came time to bring a birthday snack to my daughter's preschool, I decided to forgo the usual cupcake and whip up some baked donuts. Baked donuts are really nothing like what you buy at the donut shop but are rather cakey and muffin-like. I have no complaints about that. And when you dip them in butter and roll them around in cinnamon and sugar, they taste like quite the indulgent treat.

Once I bought my donut pan, I started using it all the time. These are a nice basic baked donut recipe (perfect for those finicky preschoolers -- oh, and the rest of us). You can consider this your gateway baked donut.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

from Ina Garten
 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2 TBs unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

cinnamon sugar topping:

• 8 TBs (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture.
2. Fill up your donut pan so that each donut is about 3/4 filled with batter. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes, and then tap the donuts out.
3. For the topping: Melt the 8 tablespoons butter in a small pan. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Dip each donut first in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. You can do either one side or both sides of each donut.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This chocolate zucchini bread is awesome for a few reasons: it tastes like cake, it’s actually pretty healthy (because it uses applesauce rather than oil), and it uses up 2 full cups of shredded zucchini.  Oh yeah, and it has chocolate chips in it!
I first made this when my neighbor handed me a zucchini the size of a baby’s arm.  I had run out of oil, so I was excited to come across a recipe that used applesauce instead of oil.  I’m not usually into calorie-cutting measures in my baked goods but I thought I’d give it a shot.  Healthy zucchini bread is better than no zucchini bread at all, right?

I’m so glad I gave this recipe a chance.  It’s seriously delicious!  Tender and moist, tastes like cake (second time I’ve said that, I know), studded with chocolate chips, and with a hint of cinnamon.   I had to make it two times to use up my baby-arm zucchini, which is how we managed to take pictures of it to share with you!


Have you noticed we’ve been bad bloggers? Sorry about that.  Remember Colorado Crafted?  It’s been keeping us very busy, but we’re not complaining!  Oh and remember those crazy floods that hit Colorado?  Yeah, those happened in our town.  We live in Longmont (the northern part of Boulder County) and so our city was hit pretty hard. 
Luckily Dulcie & I both live on a hill so our houses were safe.  People were evacuated literally blocks away from us, but we were both just fine.  So many things (our favorite bike trails along the river, the bridge we use to get everywhere, and so many local businesses) were destroyed, but we were very fortunate.  If you’re looking for a way to help out, go check out Colorado Crafted – we’re donating half of our proceeds to flood relief through the end of the month.  Send a box to someone who might need a boost, or remind someone about the best side of our state!
Now, on to the recipe!

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

• 1 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350.
Combine applesauce, eggs, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Stir well to combine.
Dump in all the dry ingredients, then mix again.
Lastly, stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

I created these muffins for a healthy (and preschooler friendly) snack the other day; I wanted them to be an alternative to banana bread.  My family loves banana bread; I love peanut butter toast with banana sliced on top.  These muffins are a happy hybrid of the two. They incorporate three whole bananas, a bunch of creamy peanut butter, and are made with half whole wheat flour. Yum!

I threw in a handful of cacao nibs for some crunch.  The nibs are totally optional, and they didn’t add a ton of flavor.  You could even use crunchy peanut butter instead, if you want crunch but don’t have cacao nibs on hand.  Chocolate chips would be pretty great too. I bet if I’d added chocolate chips Dulcie would have been fighting me for the leftover muffins!

These definitely walk the line between health food and a treat, which I’m a huge fan of in my muffin making. Like these muffins, for example. And as far as I can tell, all kids are big fans of both peanut butter and banana.  

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Cacao Nibs

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Combine the bananas, sugar, honey, peanut butter, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract in a food processor and process until smooth.  You could also use a mixer or a wooden spoon plus a strong arm; I’ve just gotten in the habit of combining all the wet ingredients for muffins using the food processor.  It makes quick work of the bananas!
Combine the flours, baking soda, salt, and cacao nibs in a large bowl.  Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to combine.
Spoon into a prepared muffin tin (I used papers), then bake at 400 for 16-18 minutes.

Almond Biscotti

Around the time that temperatures begin to drop, I experience a craving for almonds. Almond butter, almond cake, even almond-scented dish soap. (Similarly, towards the end of winter, I experience an all-out lemon frenzy.) But here we are at the beginning of fall, and all I want is some almond biscotti to dunk into my morning coffee.

I already had a very favorite biscotti recipe which I've shared previously. But there are times, I hate to admit, when chocolate is a little too much early in the morning. My 3-year-old now wants to eat just what I'm eating, and I do not feel like parent-of-the-year when she's enjoying an 8am chocolate cookie. These almond biscotti are not exactly health food, but they aren't so bad for you either. Unlike our chocolate hazelnut biscotti, there is no butter (and no oil either).

This recipe combines both almond extract and a heaping pile of toasted chopped almonds to intensify that nutty flavor. And as all biscotti are, they are baked in long logs, sliced, and then baked again to get that crisp texture that just begs to be dipped into a piping hot cup of coffee or tea.

Almond Biscotti

adapted from joyofbaking.com

• 3/4 cup whole almonds

• 3 large eggs

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and bake for about 8-10 minutes, until toasted and fragrant. Let cool, and then chop coarsely.

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs with the extracts.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the almonds, and then add the eggs and combine until a dough forms. (If it seems very dry, add just a few drops of water until dough comes together.) 

5. Divide the dough in half, and on a floured board, roll each half into a log about 7 inches long and 3 inches wide. Transfer logs to the parchment paper and bake for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.

6. Transfer the logs to a cutting board, and using a sharp knife, cut into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices onto the baking sheet, and bake for 12 more minutes. Then, flip slices over and bake for 12 more minutes, until very crisp. Remove from oven, let cool, and then store in an airtight container for up to several weeks. Makes 35-40 biscotti.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin muffins loaded with warm autumn spices and a delicious cream cheese center.  The epitome of fall! The type of recipe you make yourself and realize tastes much better than the coffee shop version! Behold:

This is another of those classic autumn recipes that we have seen making the rounds on Pinterest, so we pounced on the very first cool weather day to make these beauties.  We found lots of very similar versions of this recipe online (Annie’s Eats and See Brooke Cook to name two).  Let me tell you about how we’ve simplified them, just for discussion’s sake.

First of all, most recipes call for you to form the sweetened cream cheese into a log, wrap it in plastic, freeze it, then slice off medallions to plop into the center of the muffins.  The honest reason we didn’t do this is because we were too far along when we actually read this part of the recipe.  Oops, totally my fault.  I am the non-meticulous one.  We were so sad, thinking that our muffins would be a mess when they came out of the oven.  But they weren’t – the filling didn’t melt away and it all turned out quite beautifully. Whew!

Next, most recipes called for the inclusion of both “pumpkin pie spice” as well as most of the individual components of pumpkin pie spice. We found this confusing and also we don’t keep pumpkin pie spice on hand, so we broke the spice mixture down into its basic parts (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove).  This is nice and flexible – feel free to ad lib here; it will be OK if you leave a few out as long as you keep the cinnamon.

The other thing we did was reduce the sugar and oil in this recipe.  Now – you know us, and it wasn’t for health reasons but instead for taste reasons.  Many comments on the original recipes said the muffins were overly oily, so we reduced it a smidge. Then we started thinking that 1/2 cup sugar combined with 4 oz cream cheese would result in an uber-sweet filling, so we chopped the sugar amount in half. Last but not least, 1 cup of sugar in a recipe for 12 muffins seemed like a lot, so we reduced that to 3/4 cup and were very happy with the results.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Yield 12 muffins

Cream Cheese Filling

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar

Whip together cream cheese and sugar very well.  We’ve done this with a fork, a hand mixer, and a food processor – anything works.  When it is all combined, pop it back in the fridge to stay cold while you prep the rest of the muffins.  Having this mixture as cool as possible will prevent the cream from melting away too much during baking.  The results in the picture were created with the cream mixture left at room temperature, though, so don’t worry too much about this cooling step!

Muffins

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Our own version of “Pumpkin Pie Spices”; feel free to ad lib a little based on what you have on hand.  Nothing is essential other than the cinnamon.

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Mix the sugar, oil, pumpkin, and eggs together very well in a large mixing bowl.  Then plop the flour, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spices on top of this blended wet mixture.  Stir well to incorporate and fully mix everything together. 

Line muffin tins with paper cups, or lightly oil them. Spoon about 1-2 Tablespoons of batter into the bottom of each muffin.  We used a regular dinner spoon – heaping – to do this.  Make sure this batter is spread thinly and evenly across the bottom of each muffin tin.  I whacked mine flat on the counter a few times to accomplish this.

Next, distribute a spoonful (approx 1 Tablespoon) of the cream cheese filling in each.

Finally, evenly distribute the remainder of the batter over the top of the cream cheese.  Approx 2-3 Tablespoons each is what we came out with.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool before you eat them, unless you are ready to deal with molten cream cheese!

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries

Over the last several weeks, Sarah and I have taken turns going on vacation. I visited the very lovely and blissfully cool and cloudy Oregon coast, while Sarah has been blazing through various Midwestern states. This has been great in many ways, but not so great for our blog which has been sadly neglected. We aim to post with greater frequency very soon! In the meantime, we offer up one of our new favorite breakfast treats.

These are light and ethereal pancakes, and the ricotta makes them surprisingly moist. We took advantage of the abundant blueberries that are in season, but they would also be excellent with frozen blueberries. In  fact, I can't wait to try this recipe which whatever berry I have on hand.

I tend to shy away from recipes that involve beating egg whites, but really it only takes an extra few minutes. If you have an electric mixer, it is seriously no big whoop. And it makes such a big difference in texture and lightness! Totally worth it. Try it, you'll see.

Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries

adapted from Food & Wine

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tb pure vanilla extract
• unsalted butter, for the griddle
• 1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, milk, ricotta, sugar, and vanilla. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until smooth.
3. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form (watch that you don't over-beat it!) Fold into the batter.
4. Butter your griddle. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the griddle, being sure not to crowd your pancakes. Cook over medium-low heat for a couple of minutes, until bottoms are lightly golden. Press a few blueberries unto each pancake, and then flip. Cook a minute or so longer, until pancake is golden. Serve with maple syrup!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Summer fresh blueberries brightened up with lemon zest & juice make these muffins a perfect summertime treat.  They’re made with a base of yogurt which makes them moist and tender without being oily or too cake-like.

The colors in these muffins are so beautiful – dark blue and bright purple berries complimented with a soft yellow lemony crumb.  We love these fresh simple flavor combinations for summer; you don’t need a complicated mish mash of flavors when it’s so hot and beautiful outside.  Just pure whole foods based goodness.

When you pull the muffins out of the oven you’ll see bubbling purple blueberry juice oozing around the edges.  Restrain yourself to prevent burns! It’s hard, I know.  The berries provide plenty of natural sweetness, and the muffin batter itself only contains 1/2 c sugar so these muffins are not overly sweet, which we prefer.

Pile the cooled muffins in a bowl and enjoy for breakfast, snacks, and dessert.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

• 1 cup plain yogurt (we used full fat Greek yogurt)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups fresh blueberries (although frozen would work just fine)
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep a 12 muffin pan with paper liners or an oil rub/spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, egg, oil, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients on top of the whisked wet ones: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Fold the wet & dry ingredients together until combined, but don’t overmix (that’ll create a tough muffin).  Gently fold in the 3/4 cup of blueberries.  Fill muffin cups, then bake for approx 25 minutes at 375.

Recipe inspiration from Baker Street

Oven-Puffed Pancake with Berries

I'm all for pancakes in the morning, but I am not a fan of standing at the stovetop endlessly pouring and flipping. The oven-puffed pancake (a.k.a., Dutch baby, Dutch pancake, German pancake) is the solution. Pour it in, bake it, and you are ready to go in a flash. Plus, with the dramatic puff as it emerges from the oven -- and then the warm custardy center -- this pancake has a whole lot more pizzazz than the usual flapjack.

While we wait through this seemingly endless non-growing season, we reached to the back of our freezer for a bag of tasty frozen berries. Just a quick toss of berries brings a simple puffed pancake to new heights. A sprinkling of powdered sugar lends a little extra sweetness and elegance.

Like our earlier recipe for baked eggs with a crispy hash brown eggs, you are likely to already have these ingredients in your refrigerator. So grab your trusty cast iron skillet, and let's do this...

Oven-Puffed Pancake with Berries

From Hay Day Country Market Cookbook

• 3 tbs unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 3 eggs

• 1 cup milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries (or combination), fresh or frozen

• powdered sugar, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the butter in a 10-in oven-proof skillet (preferably cast iron), and place it in the oven.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add this to the dry ingredients, and whisk until combined and smooth.
3. Wearing an oven mitt, remove the hot skillet from the oven (the butter should be bubbling), and pour in the batter all at once. Sprinkle the berries evenly over the top, and return the skillet to the oven. Bake until the pancake is nicely browned and puffed around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pancake from the oven (don't forget that oven mitt!). Carefully transfer to a serving platter, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Baked Eggs with Crispy Hash Brown Crust

One of the highlights of our winter brunch menu was this dish:  Eggs topped with cheese, baked in a cast iron skillet, with a crispy hash brown crust hidden below.  This one is much simpler than it looks. It’s really only three ingredients: potatoes, eggs, and cheese. I love recipes that use ingredients I almost always have stocked.

The key to this one is pressing the freshly shredded potatoes between dish towels or layers of paper towels to get them as DRY as possible.  That dryness is what aids in their transformation to the crispy hash brown crust.  Once they’re dry you press them firmly and evenly into the bottom of a hot cast iron skillet. 

After the first side is browned you flip the whole crust over to brown on the other side.  The shredded potatoes are so intertwined that the flip is actually pretty easy to do.



I’ve made this multiple times over the past few weeks.  It feels special and fancy for a weekend morning breakfast, but it’s so easy to pull together. 

Baked Eggs with Crispy Hash Brown Crust

• 1 1/2 – 2 cups fresh shredded potato (about 4 medium sized red potatoes)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup shredded cheese (we used sharp white cheddar)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil for cast iron skillet

Shred the potatoes (I used my food processor to make quick work of this).  The quantity of potatoes you use is flexible – less will create a thinner crispier crust, more will create a thicker crust that’s soft in the middle.  I’ve done it both ways and I think I like the thinner/crispier crust… Toss the shredded potatoes with the salt, then press them firmly between two dish towels or a few layers of paper towels.  The goal is to get as much moisture out of the potatoes as possible so they’ll brown up nice and crisp.
Heat a cast iron skillet with the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the potatoes and use the back of a large spoon to spread them evenly and then press them down firmly into a flat pancake.  Let them sit and brown, undisturbed, for about 3-4 minutes.  Make sure your heat isn’t so high that it burns the potatoes – you want them to get golden brown but not burn.  You can use your spoon to lift up an edge and take a peek to monitor progress.
When the first side is brown, use a large spatula to flip the whole thing over.  They shredded browned potatoes should be interwined with each other enough that this isn’t too difficult to do.  Let the 2nd side brown for an additional 4 minutes.
When both sides of the crust are browned, remove from heat and crack the 6 eggs evenly over the top.  Season with a little salt and pepper if desired, then sprinkle the 3/4 cup of shredded cheese over the eggs.
Pop in the oven on broil for 5-7 minutes, depending on whether you like your eggs to be soft or hard.  I like mine hard, so I let them broil for the full 7 minutes.  Slice, serve, enjoy!

Winter Brunch Party

After getting over 12” of snow overnight here in Colorado, we decided to celebrate with a bright and sunny winter brunch party.

We kept it simple; Dulcie and I each made a dish to share (and we made the Rosemary Honey together earlier in the week). I highly recommend having a friend like this…being able to throw together a low stress brunch party  with good friends, in the dead of winter, and where you don’t have to cook everything is priceless. Here was our menu:

Winter Brunch Menu

• Sweet Potato Biscuits (recipe below)
• Rosemary Honey
• Baked Eggs with Crispy Hashbrown Crust
• Orange Juice
• Hot Coffee

Bright citrusy colors mixed with turquoise made the party feel cheery and warm. 

We lit a few candles (which the toddlers desperately wanted to blow out instantly), brewed a pot of hot coffee, and poured ourselves some fresh OJ.

The sweet potato biscuits were flakey and delicious; especially when topped with the sweet and complex rosemary honey. The baked egg skillet, made in cast iron with a crispy hashbrown crust, is deceptively easy to make and so perfect for a winter morning.

We relaxed and chatted to a low key mix of classic jazz and enjoyed the sparkling snow drifts out the windows. Happy winter.

Soundtrack for a Winter Brunch:

Our recipe for Sweet Potato Biscuits was inspired (and simplified) by Martha Stewart.  

Sweet Potato Biscuits

• 1 3/4 cups flour
  
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 6 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  
• another 1/2 Tbsp melted butter and more, for pan
  
• 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato
  
• 1/3 cup buttermilk (we used 1 Tbsp yogurt mixed with scant 1/3 c of whole milk)

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. With your hands or a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together sweet potato puree and buttermilk; combined with flour mixture. Do not overmix.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead very gently until dough comes together but is still slightly lumpy, five or six times. If dough is too sticky, knead in up to 1/4 c additional flour. Shape into a disk, and pat to approx 1”thickness. With a biscuit cutter, cut out biscuits as close together as possible. Gather together scraps once, and repeat to cut out more biscuits.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Butter an 8-inch pie pan. Arrange biscuits snugly in pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake until golden, 20 to 24 minutes.