Category Archives: breakfast

Strawberries!

baking, breakfast, dessert, drinks Leave a comment

Ah, summer. Does it get prettier than this?

I picked these up over the weekend and just could not decide what to do with them. Strawberry scones? Strawberry shortcake? What about strawberry shortcake cookies?

Decisions, decisions.

In the end, I cut them up like this: And I ate them.

Every single one.

Just like that.

So now I clearly need to go buy more strawberries, and maybe actually make something with them this time.

What will you be doing with strawberries this summer?

Strawberries!

baking, breakfast, dessert, drinks 17 Comments

Ah, summer. Does it get prettier than this?

I picked these up over the weekend and just could not decide what to do with them. Strawberry scones? Strawberry shortcake? What about strawberry shortcake cookies?

Decisions, decisions.

In the end, I cut them up like this: And I ate them.

Every single one.

Just like that.

So now I clearly need to go buy more strawberries, and maybe actually make something with them this time.

What will you be doing with strawberries this summer?

Carrot Goodness Muffins

baking, breakfast, kids 1 Comment

This is another one of my sneak-good-food-into-The-Kiddo recipes. It turns out, however, that my friend The Healthy Eater loves them too! They’re great for a quick, out-the-door breakfast on the go that doesn’t involve waiting in a fast food line, and keep you filled up till lunch. Yay for that! Adapted from here.

You will need:

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup wheat germ
  • ½ bran
  • ¾ cups white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 pound grated carrots
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup apple butter
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional:

  • 1 apple, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup raisins
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners, or use non-stick spray
  2. Whisk together eggs, apple butter, oil and vanilla in a small bowl
  3. In a larger bowl stir together flour, wheat germ, bran, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt
  4. Stir in carrots (and apples and raisins if used), then stir in apple butter mixture until just moistened
  5. Scoop muffin batter into muffin cups — about 3/4 full
  6. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are just turning golden and spring back when lightly pressed

These freeze wonderfully! I make a huge batch of them every couple weeks and freeze them in giant ziploc bags, then take out a couple every night — by morning they’re ready to eat!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

baking, breakfast 16 Comments

This. Is. Heavenly. This is without a doubt the softest, best-tasting bread that has ever come out of my oven. And part of it is whole wheat! I was a little intimidated by the recipe, never having attempted such a thing, but it came out great. I’ve been having this with my coffee every morning, and I can’t WAIT to make french toast with it! This is adapted just a bit from the King Arthur flour recipe.

You will need for the bread:

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 7-9 ounces lukewarm water (use more or less depending on humidity where you are)
  • 4 ounces KAF white whole wheat flour
  • 8 3/4 ounces KAF all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/4 ounces sugar
  • 3 ounces butter at room temperature
  • 5/8 ounce dry milk
  • 1 1/2 ounces instant mashed potato flakes

You will need for the filing:

  • 1 3/4 ounces sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons AP flour
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon water

Now put it all together:

  1. If you’re using anything other than instant yeast, dissolve the yeast with a pinch of sugar in 2 Tbsp. of your lukewarm water; I use instant yeast, so I skip this step
  2. Mix instant yeast (or dissolved yeast) with the rest of the bread ingredients. Knead everything together until dough is smooth. I plop it all in the bread machine set to the dough cycle. Easy! If you knead with a stand mixer, knead for about seven minutes on the second speed; it’s okay if it sticks at the bottom of the bowl a bit. We don’t want dry bread!
  3. If you’re using a bread machine, let the dough cycle run all the way through the first rise. If you’re hand- or mixer-kneading, put the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with a tea towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature till it’s almost doubled in bulk — about an hour, but may take longer if you hand-kneaded
  4. While the dough is rising, use a fork to mix together the sugar, cinnamon and flour for the filling mix
  5. After it’s risen till it’s nice and puffy, move the dough to a lightly greased work surface or a silicone mat and pat the dough into a 6″ x 20″ rectangle
  6. Beat together the egg and water, and brush it onto the rectangle
  7. Sprinkle the cinnamon/flour/sugar mix evenly over the dough
  8. Starting with a short end, roll the dough into a log, and pinch to seal at the ends and along the seam
  9. Put the bread, seam-down, into a greased loaf pan and cover with greased plastic wrap
  10. Let it rise till it’s just above the rim of the pan while you’re preheating your oven to 350F
  11. Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then tent lightly with aluminum foil
  12. Bake for an additional 30 minutes or so, until inside of loaf reads 190 degrees
  13. Loosen sides of pan with a knife if needed, and turn bread onto a rack. Brush the top of the loaf with butter and let that soak in while the bread cools. Then slice and enjoy!

Artisan monkey bread

baking, breakfast, dessert 5 Comments

I know, I know. You’re thinking, “Artisan monkey bread??” And now you’re humming “One of These Things is Not Like the Other.”

Oh that’s just me?

Anyhoo…

I bought Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. And it’s awesome. Great concept, especially for those of us who are prone to thinking, at 5:00 in the evening, “Ooh fresh bread with supper would be great!” Poor planning = no bread. Or it did, but not now. NOW I have bread dough in my fridge, ready at a moment’s notice. Ready to become chewy pizza dough, or a crusty loaf for supper or… monkey bread.

My gorgeous baby sister got married this weekend, so our very dear friends came to stay the weekend with us. I was scooting out in the morning before everyone was up, but I wanted to have something ready for everyone for breakfast anyway. So I did this:

I rolled little balls of my refrigerated artisan dough and plunked them into a cake pan. I – wait for it – do not own a Bundt pan. I know — how is that possible?! But I don’t. So silicone cake pan. I melted some butter and drizzled it over the dough, then covered it and stuck it back in the fridge overnight. Then I melted half a stick of butter in a measuring cup and stirred in a tsp. of vanilla and 1/2 cup of brown sugar; I covered that and put it in the fridge too:

I left intructions to let the pan sit out on the counter while the oven was preheating to 350, then bake for 15 minutes. At that point, nuke the topping until it’s pourable, then pour it over the bread and bake for 15 minutes more.

Now, want to know what happens when you do such things but forget to ask for a picture of the pretty finished product? You come home to this:

I love it! Reckon it was good, huh?

So, to recap:

  • Roll chunks of artisan bread dough, about donut hole size; I made around 40
  • Drizzle with a couple melted Tbsp. melted butter
  • Melt 4 Tbsp. butter and stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla for topping
  • When ready to bake, leave on counter to puff a bit while oven preheats to 350F
  • Bake for 15 minutes
  • Drizzle on topping
  • Bake for 15 minutes more
  • Don’t burn your fingers 😉