A Farmer's Daughter ~ Review

A Farmer's Daughter
Recipes from a Mennonite Kitchen
By Dawn Stoltzfus

Dawn Stoltzfus, drawing on her upbringing, has written a tastefully delicious cookbook.  As the daughter of a Mennonite farmer/pastor Dawn grew-up with fresh, wholesome food and she shares her wealth of knowledge in A Farmer's Daughter.

A Farmer's Daughter offers a well-rounded assortment of recipes, so there is sure to be something to please everyone.  The cookbook is broken down into nine sections: 1) Appetizers, Dips, and Beverages; 2) Breakfast and Breads; 3) Spring Salads and Dressings; 4) Summer Sandwiches and Winter Soups; 5) Garden Fresh Veggies, Comfort Food, and Sides; 6) Main Entrees; 7) Desserts; 8) Cookies, Cakes, and Bars; 9) Simple Do-It-Yourself Recipes.

Throughout there are little tidbits such as how to present your food, make a party out of the preparation, or even added a special touch to make the recipe your own.  There are a few short remembrances of how a recipe can into being or why it was and is a family favorite.

The recipes that I have tried have been easy and straightforward   I love the Herb Focaccia Bread, but the recipe that I am sharing in this review is found on page 53 the French Puff Cinnamon Muffins.  Dawn's description is as follows "These melt in your mouth.  They're like donuts - without being fried.  And so simple to make! Yeah!"

Indeed these bite size muffins are easy to make, and when I offered them to my family the first comment made was "This are kind of like donuts.  What are they?"  So my taste-testers agreed that the donut  description was accurate.

Now on to the most important part the recipe.
Ingredients are as follows:

Muffin batter
1/2 cup white or raw sugar
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup flour

Cinnamon mixture
1/4 cup salted butter
1/2 cup white or raw sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375*F.  Grease 24 mini muffin cups.  Mix sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a bowl.  Stir in milk, and then mix in baking powder and flour until combined. Do not overmix.  Fill prepared mini muffin cups about half full and bake until lightly golden, 15-20 minutes.

While muffins are baking, prepare the cinnamon mixture by melting butter.  In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  When muffins are done, let cool slightly and remove from their cups, then dip each muffin completely in melted butter and roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture. Yields 18-20 mini muffins.
Serve warm!

* When I used this recipe I actually made 24 mini muffins, rather than the 18-20.

In the Simple Do-it-yourself Recipes there are recipes to create your own mixes for pancakes, vanilla pudding, taco seasoning, Christmas potpourri, and laundry soap.  This is an interesting, tasty, and enjoyable book.  Perfect for anyone looking for simple yet delicious recipes.

I was provided a copy of The Farmer's Daughter by the publisher for the purpose of this review and all opinions expressed are my own.  

Available October 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.