Butter Biscuits

2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup Straus Butter (sweet or lightly salted)
3/4 cups Straus Milk (any variety)
Optional: add 1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives (after cutting in butter) or add 1/2 cup medium or sharp white cheddar cheese (with dry ingredients).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by rubbing 1 tablespoon butter or using parchment paper and dust with 1 teaspoon flour.

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together. Cut in the butter with a fork or a pastry cutter until butter is in small crumbles. Add most of the milk, keeping justa couple of tablespoons back. Turn the dough onto a floured board and gently knead until the ingredients are evenly mixed. Gently roll the dough out until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into desired size and place on the baking sheet. Brush with milk and bake in oven for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Serve hot with butter.

Narada's Banana Loaf
by Narada Stapel
Makes 1 loaf

A 2004 Straus Recipe Contest winner.

We picked it because it had a great consistency,wasn't a typical banana bread and, even better, wasn't too sweet. It really came alive when we spreadsome Straus butter on it, as Narada suggested. Narada also suggests, as we do, that you use all organic ingredients.

1/2 cup Straus Sweet (unsalted) European-Style Butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
3-4 ripe bananas
1/2 tsp. baking soda (dissolved in 1 tblsp. of hot water)
2 cups flour
2 tsps. baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup of chopped nuts (using the following, 1/4 cup raw pistachio kernels, 1/4 cup pecans,
1/2 cup walnuts)
dash of milk (if needed)
slivered almonds to top (optional)

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add egg and banana and mix.
3. Add soda solution and mix.
4. Sift flour, baking powder
5. Add nuts and salt and then lightly mix, adding milk if mixture is too dry.
6. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Popovers

2 eggs
1 cup Straus Organic Whole Milk
1 tbsp. Straus Organic Unsalted Butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 425°F and butter a popover pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, butter, flour and salt. Mix until ingredients are just blended and only tiny lumps of flour are visible, about 1 minute. Fill popover cups halfway with batter, then bake popovers at 425°F until they begin to brown and rise about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until popovers are brown and crisp, about 15 minutes more. Makes 12 mini or 6 regular popovers.

Straus Ice Cream Scones
by Rich Clarke
Makes 15-16 scones

Honorable Mention in the 2004 Straus Recipe Contest.

We were amazed at Rich's imagination and ability in finding a way to use our ice cream. We think the recipeis a bit heavy (or maybe that's because we ate so many variations of it as suggested below)but the sheer genius of invention must be applauded. Thanks Rich!

1-1/2 cup flour*
1-1/2 cup all purpose white flour
11 Tbsp. Straus Sweet (unsalted) European-Style Butter
1 pint Straus Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
1/2 Tsp. salt

* oat flour can be easily made by grinding about 2 cups of organic rolled oats in a coffee mill (or food processor). (oat flour improves the quality of the scone.)

1. Defrost ice cream.
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Grate butter or cut into pea size pieces, and add to dry ingredients.
4. Add liquid ice cream.
5. Mix thoroughly.
6. Drop the dough onto lightly buttered cookie sheets in approximately 1/3 cup balls, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Balls will flatten out some and are ready when slightlybrowned around the bottom edge and on top and still slightly soft, not firm, when touched in the middle.

Rich adds the following note:
While the ice cream scone is great as is, I like to add 1 cup of blueberries or any combination of the following:

diced fruit
slightly reconstituted dried fruit, diced
chopped toasted nuts
1 tsp. freshly grated citrus zest
1 tblsp. toasted shredded coconut

This also works well as a kind of short cake drenched with fresh berries and juice.