Blueberry Pancakes

Just the other day, I found a great deal on blueberries. Although we ended up eating most of them as a snack, I did use just a few to cook these pancakes. This is just a basic pancake recipe; you can add fruit or chocolate chips if you would like, or make plain pancakes. Why spend money on a pancake mix if these are so simple (and inexpensive) to make?

1 cup flour

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp cooking oil

Blueberries

Mix everything (except the blueberries) together - first the wet ingredients, then the dry ingredients. Batter may be slightly lumpy. Cook desired size of pancakes on a skillet over medium-high heat. Drop blueberries into pancakes once they are already on the skillet. This keeps them from getting smashed and keeps the batter from turning blue.

Banana Nut Bread

Banana bread is never one of those things that I plan to make in advance. I usually just find myself obligated to make it in order to avoid letting over-ripe bananas go to waste. That was the case this morning, when I finally concluded that there was no way I would eat the last bananas when they had all of those brown spots. Rather than using the banana bread recipe that I usually do, I chose a new one. I was excited that it called for sour cream because I have had some sitting in my refrigerator ever since I made tacos a few weeks ago.

This is pretty much my new favorite banana bread recipe. It is wonderfully soft and stays moist for days - I stored one loaf in plastic wrap and the other in a ziplock bag and they both retained their moisture.

Makes 1 9x13" pan or 2 bread pans.

1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 2-3 bananas)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare pans with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine bananas and sour cream and set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar then beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla and banana mixture, then add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Bubble Muffins

I saw these posted on Carlita's Eats a few weeks ago and thought I might try them out. I had actually tried some other pumpkin muffins that were supposed to be amazing, but I hated them. They had so much pumpkin puree that I felt like I was eating it straight out of the can. I could only force one of them down before I gave up and threw the entire batch away. So I was a little nervous to try another pumpkin muffin. These had a much smaller amount of pumpkin puree. Actually, I felt like they tasted more like cinnamon rolls than like pumpkin muffins, especially with the cream cheese frosting that I added. I loved them and will definitely make them again.

Dough:

1 Tbsp yeast

1/4 cup warm water

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp melted butter or margarine

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3 1/2- 4 cups flour

Coating:

6 Tbsp melted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Combine yeast, water, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and let rest for about five minutes to allow yeast to activate. Then mix in other ingredients, adding flour by half cups and mixing between each one. The dough should be sticky and wet. Knead for 3-5 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl and allow to rise until double, approximately one hour. 

Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Then divide each portion into 5 small balls. For each muffin, roll five balls of dough in melted butter and then in brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and place in prepared muffin cup. Allow muffins to rise until double in size, about another 40 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool before adding cream cheese frosting.

Blueberry Struesel Muffins

Even though I really love cooking from scratch, there are certain things that I just like better when they come from a box. Brownies and muffins are among these things. Still, I saw this recipe for blueberry muffins on Barbara Bakes and it looked like it was worth trying so I decided to make it for my sister-in-law's birthday breakfast. I was actually very impressed with the recipe; it made me think that homemade muffins might not be a complete waste of time. In fact, I will probably make them again.

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a muffin tin with muffin liners or cooking spray. Prepare streusel topping and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, beginning with the wet ingredients and then adding the dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Gently stir in blueberries. Fill muffin tins approximately 3/4 of the way up and sprinkle with struesel topping. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 

Struesel:

4 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp flour

2 tsp canola oil

Whisk together flour and sugar, then add flour and mix until it has a crumbly texture.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Croissant

Although this recipe is very easy, I thought I would include it as a memorial to the delicious breakfasts that are often authored by my husband. I generally wouldn't consider myself a "breakfast person." I generally prefer a small piece of fruit or toast, if I have anything at all. Still, I really like breakfast food and have found that I am much more likely to make breakfast for dinner. Here is a little something that we whipped up for dinner one night last week when we were in the middle of packing for our most recent move.

1/4 lb sausage

4 eggs

salt and pepper to taste

cheese

croissants (prepared according to package instructions)

Cook sausage thoroughly in a medium skillet. Add eggs and scramble, adding salt and pepper to taste. Cut freshly baked croissants in half and layer egg and cheese in the middle. If the cheese doesn't melt, consider microwaving the croissant for 15-20 seconds to help it along.

Blueberry Cream Cheese

My husband and I decided to make Stuffed French Toast for breakfast, but we had to go grocery shopping for ingredients. Unfortunately, our pathetically under-stocked grocery store didn't have any blueberry cream cheese. Although we could have chosen to buy strawberry, my sweetheart had his heart set on blueberry, so we decided to make our own. It turned out awesome - although I guess it kind of did taste like pie filling. :) It was a great breakfast.

1/2 can blueberry pie filling 

8 oz cream cheese

Soften cream cheese in the microwave (approx. 30 seconds) or let it rest at room temperature for a couple of hours. Combine pie filling and cream cheese with a hand mixer. Taste cream cheese and add more pie filling if necessary.

Biscuits and Gravy

Almost every time we go to Denny's for breakfast, I order biscuits and gravy. It is one of the least expensive things on the menu and it tastes great. Over the past few months, my husband has made them from scratch several times and I finally decided to take a picture and preserve the recipe that he uses. He got the original recipe from allrecipes.com, but he never is exact about the way he follows it so it tastes slightly different every time. 

Biscuits:

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp butter, melted

Gravy:

1/2 lb. pork sausage

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 3/4 cup milk

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a bowl, combine milk and butter then add in flour, baking powder and salt. Stir just until blended. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

While the biscuits are baking, cook sausage over medium heat until it is no longer pink. Stir in butter until it is melted, then add flour and stir until it is completely combined with butter. Slowly add milk, stirring often. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, for two more minutes. Serve over freshly baked biscuits

Whole Wheat Waffles

These are the waffles that my grandma makes every time we go to visit her. I love it when she makes them. They taste so good, you can hardly tell that they are healthy. (Well, maybe they aren't healthy with all the syrup and jam we put on them.)

In blender put:

1 Cup Wheat

1 Cup Milk  (I seem to need more liquid than this so it ends out to be more like 1 & 1/3 Cup milk and blend for about 5 minutes)

Add:

1/3 Cup Oil

1 Egg

1 Tbls Sugan

1 Tsp Salt

 3 Tsp Baking Powder

Mix well and cook

Coffee Cake

As the birth of my first baby is approaching, along with a complete shift in my personal identity as well as the composition of my day, I have been trying to change my cooking philosophy as well. I have been looking for more recipes that are simple to make and, having recently (and I hope permanently) exited the "morning sickness" phase of this pregnancy I have been making a more concerted effort to make meal preparation a higher priority in my day. Which is why I have been trying to make more breakfast foods.

In spite of the cliché stating that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," I have never really been a big "breakfast-person." Although I do enjoy breakfast food, I usually don't prepare it except on special occasions. But my husband talks about how much he values the time his mother spent to prepare breakfast for the family to eat before heading to school, work, and other daily activities. So a few days ago I got up a little early just to make this coffee cake that I copied out of a magazine at the doctors office about 6 months ago. Apparently I didn't get up early enough, though, because it finished baking within minutes of my departure for work - still too hot to eat - and our breakfast cake ended up being a dessert cake that night. Oh well, maybe next time. Nevertheless it was a good and very easy recipe. Unfortunately I cannot give the author her due credit because I didn't write down her name or the name of the magazine.

Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Beat butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until well mixed. Put half of the batter into a 9" square pan. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and nuts and pour two thirds of mixture over batter. Then pour remaining batter into the pan and top with the last third of cinnamon mixture. Bake at 375° for about 50 minutes.

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

These muffins made a delicious Sunday breakfast and only took about ten minutes to prepare for baking. I have always been a little hesitant to make muffins from scratch because they almost never taste as good as the ones from boxes, but these were actually pretty close. And they were more convenient because I had everything to make them in my cupboards at home.

1 1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
2 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup poppy seeds
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix milk, oil, egg, almond extract, and vanilla together. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and stir 30 seconds. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or use paper liners. Bake 15-18 minutes. Makes 12-15 minutes.

Dessert Crepes

Crepes are one of those foods that are incredibly easy to make, but are still considered to be somewhat of a delicacy. They are also incredibly diverse, in that they can be eaten with nearly any combination of toppings. They can be a breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a dessert. Here is a great recipe for dessert crepes.

2 eggs
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla

Place ingredients in blender in the order listed. Blend on high speed 20-30 seconds. Scrape sides of the container and blend a few more seconds. Preheat pan to a medium temperature. Crepe pan is at the correct temperature when the batter sizzles slightly when poured into the pan, and a crape will cook on one side in approximately 1 minute.

The crepe is ready to turn when it begins to set and crisp around the edges. Loosen around the edge with a spatula so you have a starting place to pick up the crepe with your fingers, then simply flip it over. Should it start to tear when picked up, it may not be cooked enough to turn. Cook a few seconds longer and try again.
This recipe makes 16-20 5" crepes.

We filled these crepes with jam, berries, pomegranate seeds, and whipped cream and topped them with berry syrup and powdered sugar. On other ones we used Nutella, peanut butter and bananas. We also used canned peaches, honeydew melon, and strawberries. The possibilities are endless!

German Pancakes

I have never really been a big "breakfast-person" but now that I am pregnant I've found that I feel terribly sick all day if I don't eat something first thing in the morning...and sometimes I feel sick all day anyway. So I have been making some new breakfast foods to break the monotony of always eating cold cereal. I really liked these German Pancakes because they are light and fluffy and full of protein. My favorite part is that when they are in the oven, they blow up like a balloon and then slowly deflate at room temperature.

6 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk

Melt butter and pour into 9x13" pan. using mixer, blend remaining ingredients in bowl and pour batter into pan. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Serve with syrup or jam.

 

 This is my pan of German Pancakes before it deflated all the way.

Poppy Seed Bread

I have a great recipe for Poppy seed cake (which I will have to make sometime soon so I can put it on my blog) but this time I decided to make a Poppy Seed Bread from scratch to see what the difference was in taste. The differences are about what you might expect. It is less sweet but still tastes great - especially with the glaze.

3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
1 1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk together last three ingredients in a separate bowl and then combine in large bowl. Grease two large loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 50-60 minutes. Start checking with fork or toothpick at about 45 minutes. (Five small loaf pans bake for around 30 minutes)


Glaze:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp melted butter
1/4 cup prepared orange juice
1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix all ingredients together. Brush on top of bread while still warm. Let bread cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans and brush the rest of the glaze on top and sides.

Stuffed French Toast

 

I think I learned this recipe from one of my American mission companions, although I don't really remember. It is a great addition to french toast, although when you make it you have to be aware that it is very rich and very filling so you probably won't eat as many pieces as you normally would. 

Bread

Plain cream cheese

Jam (your flavor of choice)

Eggs (I usually use one for each person and one extra for good measure)

Milk

Vanilla

Syrup

Mix eggs and milk by beating together. I like to add a little vanilla when I make this recipe. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese and jam on one slice of bread. I have also used a flavored cream cheese and skipped the jam but I prefer eating it this way. Top with another slice to make a sandwich. Dip sandwich in egg mixture, covering both sides of the bread and cook on a large skillet. Enjoy with your choice of toppings: butter, syrup, powdered sugar, etc.

Blueberry Muffins

I made these muffins for our Sunday breakfast. The great misfortune was that I was going to use a sugar mixture over the top and I completely forgot to put it on before putting the muffins in the oven! Without the topping these muffins were a little less sweet than I like. Here is the recipe as it should be made.

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup room temperature butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400° Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir together vegetable oil, egg milk in a separate bowl. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. 

Make crumb topping by mixing all ingredients together with a fork. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 of the way and sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes.