The Snacks make me Snap

I just got finished making my monthly dinners list and now I'm working on all the extras...like homemade pizza bagels and granola bars. I have been struggling for some time to find snacky foods that are easy to make and liked by the whole brood. I know I spend entirely too much money on snacks. Goldfish, gummy snacks, chips...it all adds up SO quickly! I tried homemade "goldfish" crackers, which I loved, but didn't go over well and didn't stay fresh long.

The kids are crazy about their smoothies and I feel great about those, but you can't easily pack a smoothie for lunch. I'll continue to work on that.

This month, I will focus on putting more freezer-to-oven meals together ahead of time, and also some mixes for cornbread and cookies, etc. That should help a lot. I've tried before to make those items and freeze so I just have to thaw, but I really can't deal with the less-than-fresh taste. Maybe I'm packing them wrong.

I recently started making our yogurt in the crockpot (amazingly simple) and as a bonus, when I drain the whey, I use it as a buttermilk substitute in a new-found biscuit recipe:

 http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/02/butter-dip-biscuits.html

Butter Dip Biscuits

Now, you can certainly cut this recipe in half if you'd like a smaller and thinner biscuit. 

But big and fluffy is how I roll.

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter (see notes below)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp. granulated sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

 Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a microwave-safe bowl (or you can use the baking dish that you'll be baking these in), melt stick of butter in the microwave.

 In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

 Pour in the buttermilk.

 Stir until a loose dough forms.

Batter will be a bit sticky.

 Press biscuit dough into baking dish (right on top of the melted butter).

 It is easiest to spread it out with your hands.

You won't get it perfectly even, but hey, that's okay, these are homemade, remember?
Some of the butter will run over the top of the dough, that's perfectly okay.

 My baby gives these a thumbs up.

He's a biscuit lover too.

Take a sharp knife and cut the biscuit dough into 9 squares before baking.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, rotating dish once during baking.

If you notice that some of the butter that is coming up to the top is getting brown, 

just take a paper towel and dab around the edges a bit.

Oven times do vary since different ovens have different hot spots, but basically biscuits should be golden brown on top

 and spring back to the touch.

I am going to have to find a much larger pan and double the recipe because we could not stop eating them!!  Personally, I just stick the pan in the oven to melt the butter while I mix up the rest and then the crust is a little crispier because the pan is already hot.  We eat this kind of thing as snacks as well (along with my Sourdough bread that is to die for) and they do great for an after-school snack or breakfast.  But I obviously want to snack on something other than bread.


Got any snack food ideas for me?