Spinach and Feta Breakfast Casserole

Looking for something new and different for breakfast - or dinner... who doesn't like a good breakfast for dinner? Either way - look no more! This dish is so easy to throw together but has flavor galore. It's eggy. It's cheesy. It has crispy bits on top. It pretty much has everything in it you might want out of a breakfast casserole. OK. So it doesn't have sausage, but I promise, this thing has enough deliciousness, you'll never miss it.

Not that we're doing many potlucks right now, but this is a great potluck dish. As soon as we all get to leave our houses again, you'll want this one in your back pocket. Again, it is super easy to put together, fairly cheap to make, and is super tasty. I use fresh spinach because it is so tender, but you could use frozen as well. You would just need to thaw and drain it. This thing takes about five minutes to put together and then takes only about 30 minutes to bake. Enjoy!

Spinach and Feta Breakfast Casserole

Yield: 8 servings

8 slices fresh sandwich bread

8 eggs

1 1/4 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup crumbled feta

1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped spinach

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk together. Add the cheese, onion powder, salt, feta, and spinach. Stir thoroughly. Cut or tear the bread into roughly one inch cubes. Place in the egg mixture and stir to coat evenly. Pour into the dish and level. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Pastry Braid

I have been experimenting quite a bit lately with incorporating chocolate in breakfast pastries. There is no reason that chocolate cannot be a viable part of a special breakfast! This pastry is similar to my Pecan Praline Weave. I absolutely love that pastry, but I started wondering what else I could put in there. And I wondered what other types of dough recipes I could try. This is the result of that experimentation. I love how easy the dough is to make. It is easy to work with when the dough is cold and the filling is very chocolaty. The pastry is not overly sweet. It is rich and decadent, but not cloying in any way. I adore it!

I also love how easy it is to shape. It looks so amazing, you might be tempted to think it would be hard to put together, but it really isn't at all. Roll the dough out into either one large or two smaller rectangles. Use a pizza cutter to cut 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips along both edges of the long edges of the dough. It helps to imagine the dough as being folded in a tri-fold manner. Spread the filling down the middle third. To keep the pastry very pretty, I cut the last strip on each side on both ends off. This allows me to fold over the end of the middle third for a nice, well kept look.

Brush the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. They're completely optional, but I think the almonds add a certain je ne sais quoi. Another great thing about this bread is that it really doesn't need to sit to rise after the pastry is put together. This allows it to be easily made in the morning fairly quickly. I make the dough the night before and put it in the refrigerator. In the morning, I roll the dough out and put together the pastry. I then immediately put it in the oven, and thirty minutes later, I have chocolate pastry nirvana. Not bad!!

Hello, chocolate. How are you doing? Man, do I need more excuses to make this thing.

Chocolate Pastry Braid
Yield: Approx one 20x6 inch braid or two 10x6 inch braids

For the dough:
2/3 whole milk, lukewarm
5 TBS sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup flour

For the filling:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 unsweetened cocoa powder
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
2 TBS heavy cream

1 egg mixed with 1 TBS water
1/4 cup sanding sugar
sliced almonds (optional)

In a stand mixer, add all ingredients except for the final 1/2 cup of flour. Using the paddle attachment, mix until the dough is well mixed and fairly smooth. Switch to the dough hook, and while on speed 2, add the remaining flour. Let mixer knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, until it is very smooth. It will still be very sticky. Put into a greased container and cover tightly. This dough will easily double over night, so be sure to use a large enough container. Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.

When ready to assemble the pastry, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Generously flour the counter and roll out the cold dough into one very large rectangle (or divide the dough in half and roll into two smaller rectangles). Consider transferring dough onto a piece of parchment (this helps transfer the finished pastry onto the baking sheet, especially if your kitchen is hot or you take a while to assemble the pastry). Place all filling ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Heat gently in the microwave, stirring regularly, until the mixture is smooth. Spread evenly in the middle third (long ways) of the dough. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough in 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide strips on each side of the middle third (see picture above). Remove the last strip on each side on both ends. Fold over the middle end of the dough on each end and then alternately lay the strips across the chocolate. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with sanding sugar. If desired, sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Immediately place in the preheated oven. Bake until puffed and golden, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Keeps well, tightly covered, for 2-4 days.

Easy Single Serve Muesli

I really love this stuff. I first posted about it seven years ago. (Wow... I've had this blog for over seven years?) It has not exactly been one of my most popular posts. The view tracker only gives it a paltry 98 hits over it's lifetime. That's a darn shame because this stuff is really, really good. I think this may be the only oatmeal type breakfast recipe I've ever come across that does not cook the oatmeal, and it really makes a difference in the final product. It's fresh tasting, fruity, and not in the least sticky. 

My biggest problem over the years has been having the opportunity to make it. The original recipe makes enough for 2-4 people, depending on how hungry they are and requires you to use an entire apple. If I only wanted to make a part of a recipe to feed myself during the week, for instance, what do I do with the rest of the apple? Needless to say, the result was that I just didn't end up making it very often. Recently, I made it to take to a brunch. When making it ahead of time, it's important not to mix the oats until the last minute. That got me thinking about whether I could make the liquid base of the muesli all at once and freeze it in individual portions. I was worried the texture or flavor might be off after freezing and thawing, but I was pleasantly surprised! It works fabulously!! 

This recipe uses two medium sized Granny Smith apples and make six 1/2 cup or nine 1/3 cup frozen servings. You blend the apples (peels on!) and milk in a blender and then add the remaining base ingredients (note -  you do not add all the ingredients as shown in the original recipe). 

When done blending, it should look something like this. Kind of frothy, kind of smooth, but kind of bumpy looking. Not a very appealing description, I know, but it really does make some good stuff. Trust me.

Divide the mixture into your freezer containers. Freeze immediately.

The night before you want to eat it, take one of the containers from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator. In the morning, toss in the quick oats and delicious add-ins of your choice. As always, my favorite combination is bananas, raisins, and peanuts. I totally love homemade freezer convenience foods and this one absolutely makes me smile! I hope you give it a try!

Easy Single Serve Muesli
Yield: 6 or 9 individual freezer servings

For the Freezer Base:

2 medium (about 8 oz each) Granny Smith apples, peel on, cored
1 cup whole milk
2 TBS sugar
3 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup heavy cream


To Make the Muesli:

1 individually frozen portion, thawed
quick oats (1/4 cup for each 1/2 cup portion, 2 heaping TBS for each 1/3 cup portion)
sliced banana
raisins
peanuts
other add-ins, to taste, such as grapes, pear chunks, spelt grains, or blueberries

In a blender, puree the cored, sliced apples with the milk. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and cream and blend just until evenly pureed. Divide into freezer containers as either six 1/2 cup or nine 1/3 cup servings. Freezer immediately. To prepare, place the frozen container in the refrigerator to thaw over night (be sure to use within two days for best flavor). Pour now thawed base into a bowl. Add the quick oats and add-ins. Stir and enjoy!

Bran Muffins - Perfected!

I know I updated my original bran muffin recipe not that long ago... and I love that recipe. I really do. I love that there is no refined sugar in it. I love the rich flavor from using only date sugar to sweeten them. But you know what? Date sugar is expensive!!! That recipe calls for more than a cup of the stuff, and as I started making these muffins more and more (they're really tasty!), I found I was spending a fortune on date sugar.

So, I went back and decided to see if I could modify them a bit to maintain the flavor that I loved in this new version without breaking the bank. I think I did it, well - geeze - I know I did, because I make this new recipe all the time. These muffins are my new go-to breakfast. The half a cup of date sugar the recipe now calls for is enough to make them really yummy without making me go through ridiculous amounts of the stuff.

Incidentally, since I have moved away from the "big city," I've had to start buying my date sugar online. I've been really pleased with the NOW Real Food brand date sugar. It's very dry and powdery (which can lead to a crazy cloud of it in my kitchen), but I no longer have to sift the stuff and get out a sledge hammer to break up the clumps, which I kind of like.

If you like moist and rich, sweet but not cloying muffins, you'll love these! They are full of dietary fiber (a back of the envelope calculation suggests each muffin has over 3 grams of dietary fiber) which is an important part of a healthy diet. Sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too!

Bran Muffins - Perfected!
Yield: 12 standard-sized muffins

1/4 cup canola oil
1 TBS honey
3 TBS molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup wheat bran

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup date sugar
1/2 cup chopped dates (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the first group of ingredients. The bran in included with the wet ingredients so that it has time to soak up some liquid and soften. This helps the texture of the final product. Let this bowl sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix together the second batch of ingredients. Stir together. If adding the chopped dates, mix those in as well so that they are covered with flour. This step helps to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir just until mixed. Line a muffin tin with papers and scoop approximately 1/4 of a cup into each paper. I use a #16 disher (blue) flat filled. If you want, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with some turbinado sugar and/or wheat bran. Bake in the  preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until they are gently browned.

Freezing French Toast

This is one of those posts that I actually feel a little strange posting. I mean, it seems so simple; who would need a blog post about it? Well, you know, sometimes, the simplest things are the ones you overlook the longest. I freeze my waffles and favorite pancakes for a super fast, toaster ready breakfast, but I was never sure whether it would work for French toast. I suspected it would, but I never seemed to get around to giving it a test drive.

But just like with waffles and pancakes, which are - in my mind - absolutely horrible when bought at the store, store bought frozen French toast makes me cringe. Yes, I've actually tried it. Bleck! So, a couple of weeks ago, I had two leftover slices of French toast, and I thought, "What the heck!?!" I put them in a bag in the freezer, and about a week later, I pulled them out, stuck them straight in the toaster, and enjoyed French toast that tasted fresh made with absolutely no work!!!! I'm hooked now! This morning, I made made an ten extra slices to put in the freezer. I love a wholesome, filling breakfast out of the toaster. It just makes me day.

And just in case you're curious, here's how I make French toast: I basically mix one egg with about a tablespoon of (preferably whole) milk for each slice I plan on cooking. Be sure to whisk the eggs a bit before adding the milk; they're a lot easier to break up that way. Add a dash of salt, a dash of cinnamon, and a tiny dash of nutmeg. That's it! I dip each slice for about 10-20 seconds on each side. Cook over medium heat on a non-stick griddle with just the barest hint of butter. I melt a little butter on the griddle and then wipe the whole thing down with a paper towel. I don't like fried French toast any more than I like fried pancakes! Be sure to cool the slices completely before bagging and sticking in the freezer. Whola! Freezer french toast that actually tastes good.

Updated Bran Muffins

A few years ago, I posted a recipe for bran muffins. I've been mainly eating my chocolate chip and banana nut muffins lately, but a couple weeks ago, I suddenly decided to change pace. But the old recipe exhibits one major pet peeve of mine... it does not make a convenient amount of batter. It makes enough for one and a half trays of muffins (it says it makes a dozen, but when I went to make it again recently, it made quite a few more than that). Who wants to make a half tray? So, I decided I would adjust the recipe to make one dozen muffins. I figured that was easiest, because if I wanted to make two dozen muffins, I could easily double the recipe. Well, one thing led to another, and suddenly, I found myself playing with the recipe.

First, I want you to know that the original recipe is darn tasty. They are sweet and moist and yummy. The recipe I am about to post produces muffins that are a little more moist and not quite as sweet. In fact, they have no refined sugar in them. The majority of the sweetness in this new version comes from the dates themselves. Instead of adding chopped dates into the batter at the end, I thought I would see how the muffins tasted if date sugar were used instead. Date sugar is not really a sugar, but simply dried and ground dates. But dates are so sweet, that they can be used like sugar in many instances. In the muffins, I found its use has a few advantages. First, the muffins are so incredibly moist now. It also makes eating the muffins less sticky. Those large chunks of dates, while delicious can make a mess while eating them (especially when feeding them to a one year old!). The updated recipe also has no refined flour. In the previous post, I post the disclaimer that they are "good tasting muffins, not to be confused with 'health' muffins." In this case, I think we can confidently state that these muffins are good tasting and healthy. They're not low calorie, but they are packed with good stuff!

While I've decided I like these muffins a little less sweet, if you want yours to be a little more... decadent, you can simply add 2-4 tablespoons of brown sugar to the batter.

If you want to make your life easy while mixing the batter, pour the oil into a glass measuring cup first. Then eyeball the amount of honey. Lastly, add the molasses until the total amount reaches a half cup for the three ingredients. Not only is the measuring easy, when the oil is poured in first, it makes getting the sticky ingredients out of the cup easy too.

As for decorating the tops of the muffins, in the original, I tossed a few oats on top. I got to thinking about it, and that just doesn't make a lot of sense; there are no oats in these! A better option is either to sprinkle them with a little turbinado sugar, which is a coarse grained, unrefined sugar that gives a nice crust and sweet bite to the tops of the muffins, or to sprinkle a little bran on them. You can also leave them plain, but where's the fun in that? As darkly colored as these are, they can be a little difficult to determine when they are done. For these muffins, I always use a cake tester to be sure the muffins are done.

Updated Bran Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 TBS honey
3 TBS unsulphured molasses
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup wheat bran

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/4 cup date sugar, sifted to remove lumps

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix the first seven ingredients. Mix the bran in with the wet ingredients and let the mixture sit for 15-20 minutes so the bran can hydrate. In a small bowl, mix together the dry ingredients together. Once the bran has swelled and thickened the wet mixture, you can mix the dry ingredients into it. Spoon into lined muffin cups. A #16 disher slightly overfull will make 12 evenly sized muffins. Sprinkle the tops with either bran or turbinado sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool slightly before serving. Keeps well in the freezer. Reheat in the microwave to enjoy at your leisure.

Spiced Banana Bread

Well, hello, stranger! Long time no see.

Hard to believe that another holiday season has careened by. Fortunately, it was a lovely one. We finally are in a northern (read: cold and snowy) clime, which always helps get me in the holiday spirit. We live within a couple hours of my husband's side of the family and we received visits from multiple members of my side. My mom came and spent Christmas with us! It's been a number of years since we were together on Christmas day itself... and this year was extra special! It was my boy's first Christmas. Needless to say, there's been a lot of joy around here.

Speaking of the boy! He still keeps me on my toes. He's such a good guy though; the vast majority of the time, he plays really well and lets me get some things done. Naps are still tricky... and - apparently - cyclical in nature. We have a week or so of really good naps and then a few weeks of middling naps and then a week of horrible naps. Can you guess which part of the cycle we're in today?

He's also become a really good eater. I should post a before and after photo sometime of his meal plate. Not only does he go for volume, but he loves a wide variety of foods. While there are days when he is or isn't in the mood for one food or another, I cannot think of a single food he just won't ever touch. This week I made falafel and tabbouleh and he ate both! While he takes after his father and me, being a major carnivore, he also likes his carbs. I originally came up with this recipe when he first started eating because I wanted a bread that was easy to chew, tasted somewhat sweet without a huge amount of added sugar, and was very low in salt.

The funny thing is, while he eats it fine, I've come to really love the stuff! I make it all the time. It tastes sweet without being cloying (my big beef with most store-bought banana flavored baked goods) and has a satisfying twist of spice. I also love how easy it is to make. You can simply mix it together by hand in a bowl. No creaming or beating required.

Spiced Banana Bread
Adapted from The Recipe Encyclopedia, 1995
Yield: one 4x8 loaf

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (see note below to mix your own)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
5 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup mashed, ripe bananas

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 4x8 inch loaf pan by spraying with oil and lining with a parchment strip, if available (this simply ensures your loaf comes out intact - if you have a really good non-stick pan, this step is optional). In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, spice, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a separate, smaller bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Add to the dry mixture and stir just until combined. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool for five minutes before removing from pan to cool completely on a rack. Store in an air tight container either at room temperature or the refrigerator for up to one week. Baked bread can also be frozen for up to six months.

NOTE: You can make your own pumpkin pie spice by mixing 2 TBS cinnamon, 2 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ginger, and 1 tsp cloves. The leftover spice can be saved for use in other recipes. You can also use regular, salted butter, the resulting loaf just won't be as low in sodium.

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

I assumed going into this motherhood thing that, since I had a fair amount of childcare experience, I had it all figured out. What I hadn't realized, having always taken care of children six months and older, is that infants are quite a bit more time consuming than I had anticipated. I guess it's hard to entertain yourself when you can't sit up on your own, let alone reach out and hold something. On top of it all, my little boy is opposed to sleep. Oh, he sleeps great at night. In fact, last night, I got over six hours in a row and then a few more to boot! The problem is that my boy, who is almost ten weeks old now, doesn't like to nap much during the day. I looked up online how much infants should be napping at his age and it says around five hours a day. I'm lucky to get two out of him most days. The good news is that he isn't crabby with that little sleep. He's wide eyed and bushy tailed and ready to face the world... if only he could interact with it more!

As you might guess, between this sleep issue and keeping him fed, there isn't a huge amount of time for playing in the kitchen, but I've been making a concerted effort lately. I miss that tasty, creative outlet! So, in the last week, I've developed three new recipes. Of course, now the trick is to have the time to post them!

The first recipe I put together is for a homemade instant oatmeal. Once you've made the mix and put it in the pantry, you can prepare a serving in less than a minute and it is very, very tasty. It took me a few tries to get the flavor right, but I definitely think I've got it now. It's a brown sugar and maple flavored oatmeal with just a hint of cinnamon and vanilla. Very satisfying.

As I've mentioned before, muffins are usually my go to breakfast; it's my husband that's been consuming all the instant oatmeal up to this point (although that may change now!). As you might imagine, it galled me just a bit every time I put that box in the grocery cart. I just knew I could do better and cheaper. This recipe makes six servings for less than a buck. It looks very similar to what comes out of the box, doesn't it? But it doesn't have all those fillers in it! Just oats, salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and real maple syrup.

You start by mixing a portion of the oats with all the flavorings and then baking to dry it out and make it shelf stable. You then grind up that mix in a food processor (I suppose a blender might work too) until it is fairly finely ground. Finally, mix in the remaining oats and put it in a jar in the pantry. That's it! 

Obviously, you can make the servings as large or as small as you want and add the water to your taste, but as a general guide, five tablespoons of dry mix makes a serving. That's approximately 40 grams. A Quaker Instant Oatmeal serving is 34 grams and has 120 calories. Based on the nutritional information and measurements for my recipe, it comes to about 170 calories a serving. If it was a similar serving size as the Quaker, it would be 145 calories. Why the difference? It's not that my version is sweeter. I think it has to do with the fillers they have in there. 34 grams of oats have 128 calories. Oats are less calorie dense than sugar, so to be able to have only 120 calories per serving, there must be a bunch of other, very low calorie stuff in there... perhaps the guar gum, sucralose, or calcium carbonate. 

Homemade Instant Oatmeal

Yield: 6 servings

1/2 tsp table salt

4 or 5 TBS packed light brown sugar

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 or 2 TBS real maple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup quick oats, divided

I have added some flexibility into the measurements of the sweeteners. My husband ultimately decided he wanted it slightly less sweet, so I've been making it with 4 TBS brown sugar and 1 TBS of maple syrup. Feel free to adjust to your tastes.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. In a small microwave proof bowl mix the salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup, and vanilla. Stir together and then heat gently in the microwave to liquefy the mixture, about 25-30 seconds.  Add 1/2 cup of the oats. Stir to completely mix. I like to use my hands to really ensure things are well mixed, which helps keep hard sugar balls from forming. Sprinkle out on a sheet pan lined with parchment. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring once, until the mixture is dry looking. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Once cool, place the mixture in a food processor and process until the mix is fairly finely ground. Pour into a glass jar. Add the remaining cup of oats and shake to mix. Store tightly capped for maximum freshness. This recipe can be multiplied as many times as necessary to obtain the desired amount of mix.

To prepare the oatmeal, spoon 5 tablespoons of the instant oatmeal in a bowl. Add between 1/3 and 1/2 cup very hot water and stir. Let sit 30 seconds, stir again, and enjoy. The amount of water you use will be a matter of personal preference. Using 1/3 cup of water will lead to a thicker, more pasty oatmeal while 1/2 cup will be somewhat watery. Personally, I think halfway between is the perfect balance.

NOTE: A triple batch of this recipe will just about fill a one quart jar. 

Cinnamon Rolls - Mastered!

My in-laws showed up yesterday to come meet their newest grandson. I feel fortunate to have such a great relationship with my in-laws such that I am excited for their visit. It helps that my mother-in-law is great with babies and this has allowed me to get a few things done around here. To celebrate the first morning of their visit, I decided to make a pan of cinnamon rolls.

Now, I posted my recipe for cinnamon rolls a long time ago. You can see that post here. However, while the basic recipe has remained the same, there have been a number of changes that have turned these rolls from good to super-freaking fantastic. I used to have a hard time passing by a Cinnabon when out and about, but now it's not a problem. I like these rolls better! It's amazing what a difference a few subtle changes can make. You may want to read through my last post first if you are not familiar with the general gist of how cinnamon rolls are made. In this posting, I will focus on the changes to the recipe and then will re-post the recipe in full at the end in case you want to print it out.

The first major change was in the filling. I'm not sure why it makes such a big difference, but changing from regular sugar to brown sugar completely changes the way the filling melts. If you mix the butter and sugar together first into a paste, along with the cinnamon, it melts even better and makes a nice gooey filling. Here you can see the dough rolled out with the filling spread out on it.

The nest major change was the way that I rolled the dough. If you look at my pictures in my original post, you'll notice just how thick the dough was when I rolled it up. That resulted in rolls that were very bread-y without a lot of that delicious filling. I now roll the dough almost as thin as I can manage. I shoot for no thicker than one quarter of an inch now. In my experience, it is imperative to have the dough cold to manage this. That's why I put the dough in the refrigerator for a second proofing. Roll the dough up and then use a serrated blade to cut perfect rolls.

Compare this photo with the similar one in the previous cinnamon roll post and you can see just how many more rolls you get in the dough when it is rolled thinly. It leads to a much better balance of dough and cinnamon/sugar filling.

You can see here how that filling melts so much better than in my previous recipe. The last change that I made to the recipe was in the icing. Adding a little cream cheese to the icing, with that little bit of tang it imparts, is absolutely divine and really puts these rolls over the top. My goodness, these things are delicious! Be sure to have a plan for all twelve rolls or you may find them all in your own tummy!

Cinnamon Rolls - Mastered!
Yield: 12 rolls

2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp table salt
3 whole eggs
4 to 4 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup butter (one stick)
1 cup brown sugar
4 TBS cinnamon

4 ounces softened cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 TBS milk

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer (through the eggs). Add two cups of the flour. Mix on medium with a paddle for 3 minutes. Add the remaining 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour. The amount of flour can vary depending on the humidity of your kitchen. You are looking for a dough that is still somewhat soft and sticky. It will become more workable after it rises and is chilled.

Place the dough in a grease bowl, covered with plastic wrap, until it is doubled. Knock down the dough and refrigerate for 2 hours (and up to 24 hours). Turn the cold dough out onto a floured counter. Roll out into a rectangle as thin as the dough will reasonably allow; shoot for less than 1/4 of an inch. The rectangle will be approximately 20 inches by 12 inches. Beat together the softened butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Heat gently in the microwave if it is not soft enough to spread on the dough. Spread the mixture evenly on the dough. Roll up tightly and slice, using a serrated blade, into twelve rolls. I trim off the ends before slicing so each roll has a nice look to it.

Place the rolls in a greased 9x13 inch pan. They also fit nicely four to a pan in 8" disposable aluminum pans if you want tot gift them. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes or until slightly puffy. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the plastic wrap and bake rolls for 25 minutes or until baked through and gently golden. Remove rolls from the oven and cool for 15 minutes before icing.

Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and milk together until it forms a smooth icing. It will be too thick to pour. Spread the icing over the rolls. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container and reheat in the microwave before serving.

7/31/13: I have altered the amounts for the filling slightly. I decided, if your going to go all out and have a cinnamon roll, it might as well be the best roll it can be! I upped the amount of brown sugar slightly (from 3/4 cup to one) and increased the amount of cinnamon a bit (from 3 to 4 TBS). I just made these again this weekend. Sooooo fabulous!!!

English Muffins

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Since I'm in my last month before our new arrival arrives, I've been on restricted travel... I wasn't allowed to drive fourteen hours to spend Christmas with the family this year! It's the first time in the almost ten years that we've been married that my husband and I spent the day at home alone. It was relaxing, but I think I prefer the wonderful chaos of our normal routine better.

Being stuck at home, we decided we could celebrate our time together by splurging on our meals. I prepared some items I've never prepared before and enjoyed some other special meals that I only get to make rarely. Christmas eve we enjoyed a small prime rib. For Christmas day dinner, I made a roasted duck. This is the second time I've roasted a whole duck, and while it was darn tasty, it sure did make a mess of the oven! Last night was the finale of our gluttonous extravaganza. I made a roasted rabbit with mashed potatoes and gravy; boy was it tasty!

Surprisingly, probably the most challenging meal I made was breakfast on Christmas morning. I've been playing with an English muffin recipe and I know how much my hubby loves a good eggs Benedict, so I figured I'd give it a go. There were two components in this dish that I had never made before: poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce. I'll talk more about eggs Benedict in a future post, but let it suffice to say for now that these English muffins played a wonderful supporting roll.

Now, while we're on the subject of English muffins, lets talk about nooks and crannies. Those round holes you see in so many brands of commercial English muffins? Yeah, that's not traditionally an English muffin feature. You find those holes in crumpets, which also are also an English bread and are also cooked on a griddle, but are made from a looser batter and require rings to make. The traditional English muffin looks more like regular bread inside when split. It still holds the butter nicely when toasted though, so don't you worry!

The first step is to mix the dough. Mix the dough at least the night before you plan on making the muffins. For a more robust flavor, you can actually make the dough 2-4 days in advance. This extra fermentation time in the refrigerator helps to develop a very nice flavor, but they're still good when made after only twelve hours. The dough  mixes together nicely and does not need to be kneaded for an exceptionally long time. When ready, dump the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stash in the refrigerator. It will swell up nicely and do some lovely yeasty things.

When ready to make the muffins, lightly flour the counter and dump out the dough. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour too and roll it out until about one-quarter of an inch thick. Make sure you roll it thin enough. One time I didn't and I ended up with English muffins that looked like the Sears tower! They were crazy! Cut out using a 3 1/2 inch round cutter (or something similar). A nice sharp cutter is preferred because you don't want the dough on the edges to get sealed together as this can inhibit the muffins from puffing properly. If you only roll once, you should get about 8 muffins out of the dough; if you re-roll the scraps, you can get up to 14 muffins. Please note, however, that once you try to re-roll the dough, you'll be waging an uphill battle against gluten.

Place the muffins on a sheet tray sprinkled with cornmeal or farina (Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat cereal). I prefer the look and taste of the farina, personally. In this picture, you're looking at cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins as well and then loosely cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until they have doubled in volume. Be sure to let them rise fully. If you try to cut this step short, most likely you will end up with dense, doughy English muffins.

When they are done rising, preheat your electric griddle to 325F. You can do this step on the stove, but I find being able to easily manage the temperature is a real plus here. Cook the muffins for two minutes on one side.

Give them a flip and let them cook another 5-7 minutes on the other side. If they do not have a nice golden color on them when you complete this first flip, you may want to hold off a bit longer and evaluate your griddle temperature.

This photo shows the second side once it has finished cooking as well. You see how it is not as flat as the first side? The first side cooking time is short for a reason. If you let the first side go too long, the top of the muffin gets too rounded and you end up with a smaller and smaller flat spot on the top of this second side, leading to a domed muffin instead of a nice flat muffin. In my experience, two minutes is a nice compromise between color development and maintaining as flat a second side as possible.

Let muffins cool slightly before slicing and toasting. While you can fork split these muffins, I almost prefer them cut open. Give it a try both ways and see which one appeals most to you. These muffins are great by themselves (as shown at the beginning of this post) or as part of a smashing eggs Benedict. Freeze the leftovers (I slice mine apart first), and you can enjoy homemade English muffins whenever the mood hits!

English Muffins
Yield: 8 - 14   3-1/2 inch muffins (depending on whether you re-roll the scraps)

3 cups bread flour
1 tsp table salt
1 1/4 cup milk
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
2 TBS vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together and knead by hand or in a stand mixer for 5-7 minutes. Dough should come together but still be somewhat sticky. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator at least overnight, but up to four days. The ideal time from a flavor/yeast development standpoint is probably on day three (let sit two nights in refrigerator).

When ready to make the muffins, pull the dough from the refrigerator and dump out onto a lightly floured counter. Sprinkle the dough with a little more flour and roll immediately until the dough is 1/4 inch thick. You should be able to cut eight 3 1/2 inch rounds without having to re-roll the dough. If you want to use all of the dough now, re-roll to obtain up to 14 rounds. The gluten will start to fight you as soon as you start re-rolling. Let the dough sit a few minutes to allow the gluten to relax a bit if it gets too frustrating.

Place rounds on a sheet pan generously sprinkled with farina (Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat cereal) or cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins as well. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double. Be sure to let them rise fully or you may end up with muffins that are dense and doughy.

When they have doubled, heat a dry electric griddle to 325F. Once preheated, place the rounds on the griddle and cook two minutes on the first side. Check to be sure the bottom is nicely golden and give the muffin a flip. If you wait too long to flip, the muffin will be dome shaped instead of flat. Cook another 5-7 minutes on the other side. Let cool briefly before splitting and toasting. Muffins can be frozen for up to six months.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

One of the things I love about cooking is that I never run out of new and interesting things to try. Making sausage has been on my list for a long time, but somehow it only recently made it to the top of the list. If you have a meat grinder, it is so very easy. The best part is that you can then tailor your sausage to your exact liking! Its great because you can mix together the seasoning and then cook a small bit and sample it before committing yourself to multiple pounds of the stuff.

I have an old fashioned meat grinder (although to be honest, I'm not sure I could tell you where it is right this second), but I also have the grinder attachment for my KitchenAid. I found the grinder attachment worked fairly well, provided that you use partially frozen meat when grinding. Unfortunately, I found the sausage stuffer add-on for the KitchenAid to be horrible. I ended up making a few cute little sausages, but - as far as I'm concerned - it wasn't worth the time and frustration of making links using my mixer. It just didn't feed properly... mainly because the food pusher does not fit snugly into the hopper. If you're darned and determined to make links, you'll want to look into a dedicated sausage stuffer (like this one), which can be found for less than a hundred bucks.

Anyway... so, I purchased a big ol' Boston butt roast. That's pork, in case you didn't know. And it's not butt. I've always wondered why the heck they call the shoulder the butt. All it does is cause confusion, but now you know, right?

Boston butt is nicely marbled, which is what you want for making sausage. Remember, there's a reason sausage tastes so good, and it's not because it's healthy for you! You do, however, want to cut away the major chunks of fat and connective tissue. There's plenty of marbling in a Boston butt and the extra gristle and fat can bog down the grinder. Cut the roast into approximately one inch squares. Place a Sil-Pat or Super Parchment sheet on a sheet tray and lay the pieces out on it so they are one layer thick. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. When you are ready to make sausage, let the meat sit on the counter until it is about half thawed. (Or, you could only freeze until half frozen... it depends on your timeline). Run the meat through your grinder using the coarse grinding disk, if you have an option.

Once the meat is ground, the rest is quick and easy. Mix together the seasoning and then sprinkle it over the meat. Stir completely. Then form it into small patties. I made mine about 3 inches across. Keep in mind that they'll shrink a bit when cooked. Place the patties in a single layer on the baking sheet with the Super Parchment or Sil-Pat (to allow easy removal once frozen). Try to form the patties so that they are a little thinner in the middle than on the outside edges. Place the tray in the freezer and freeze them until they are rock hard. Remove from the tray and place in and air tight container.

When you are ready to cook, simply place the number of frozen patties you want in a lightly oiled pan over medium-high heat. Cover it and keep an eye on it. As soon as you hear some good sizzle going on in there, reduce the heat to medium-low. After about six minutes, turn the patties over to cook the other side. Pierce the sausage about halfway through to allow the excess grease to escape. Cook another 5-6 minutes of the second side, until the sausage is cooked through.

Homemade Breakfast Sausage

Yield: 2 pounds

2 pounds Boston butt pork roast

2 tsp table salt

1 tsp ground sage

1/2 tsp ground thyme

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground pepper

Trim the roast of excess fat and connective tissue. Cut into one inch chunks. Freeze in a single layer on a sheet pan. Either freeze solid and then remove from freezer ahead of when you want to make sausage or freeze only until about half frozen. Grind half frozen meat with a coarse grinding plate.

Mix the seasonings together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the ground meat and mix thoroughly. Form small patties so that they are thinner in the middle than at the edge. Place on a Sil-Pat or Super Parchment on a sheet pan and freeze until solid, then transfer to an air tight container. Sausages can be cooked directly from the freezer. Start over medium-high heat in a covered pan. As soon as you hear a decent amount of sizzle, turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook 5-7 minutes per side, until cooked through.

Pecan Praline Weave

For almost six years, every time I opened my magazine clippings cookbook to the bread section, there was a recipe staring at me that always took my breath away. You would think since this bread looked so amazing and always made me drool uncontrollably that I might have tried to make it a little sooner. Part of the problem was that I knew it looked too good. I had to have a recipient ready and waiting to receive at least half of the creation, lest I eat myself into a gluttonous torpor.

Last week, I had multiple recipients, which worked out great since I ended up making the bread twice, two days in a row. I made it just how the recipe was written the first time. The second time, I made a number of adjustments. It was delicious both ways, but I think my adjustments made it a little better for two reasons. The first is that it is now easier to make; I can't abide by recipes that have a bunch of cup plus tablespoon measurements (as in "3 TBS plus 2 1/4 cups of flour"... I mean, really!) and unnecessary steps. I think I also managed to make it just a little less sinful.

It happens to be the strangest dough I've come across as far as the process of its mixing. You start out mixing a fairly stiff dough with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. (I think you could also mix this dough by hand, but it'll give you a bit of a workout.) My mixer was thumping a bit. Then you mix in the butter, which softens the dough up a lot... too much, to be honest. As a result, you have to finish up the dough with a little more flour, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl nicely. Spritz a bowl with some oil, put in the dough, cover with some plastic wrap, and let it sit to rise for one to two hours.

This dough is so nice to work with once it has risen. It's soft and supple and the gluten doesn't fight very much, which I appreciate when I'm trying to roll out a large rectangle of dough. Roll the dough out until it is about 16 x 13 inches. Be sure to transfer the dough onto a piece of parchment at this point. You'll need that parchment to transfer the loaf to the baking sheet later. It also is a very useful for rolling out the dough to the right size. Now imagine the dough divided into three sections, like a tri-fold brochure. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, make slices toward the center all along each side. Shoot for about 1/2 inch wide slices.

Mix together the filling and then crumble it down the middle of the dough evenly.

Then start "weaving" the arms across the middle as shown in this picture.

At the ends, tuck and/or fold to form a neat finish. Transfer the loaf to the sheet pan using the parchment paper. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy, about an hour and a half.

Preheat the oven to 375° F. When the loaf is properly risen and the oven is hot, remove the plastic wrap and brush with an egg yolk wash. The egg wash helps the loaf bake to a beautiful golden color. Bake 15 minutes and then rotate the pan 180 degrees. Then bake another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing and serving. Loaf stays tasty for three to four days when stored in an air tight container. It's almost too beautiful to eat! (Almost!).

Pecan Praline Weave
Yield: 1 16x5 inch loaf
Adapted from Bon Appetit, April 2005

Dough:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
3 TBS warm water
1/2 cup sour cream
4 TBS sugar
3 large egg yolks
1 TBS vanilla extract
3/4 tsp table salt
5 TBS softened butter
4 TBS all purpose flour

Filling:
1 cup toasted, chopped pecans
5 TBS softened butter
1 cup brown sugar

1 egg yolk & 1 TBS water for egg wash

Mix the initial amount of flour and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. In a separate bowl, mix the wawter, sour cream, sugar, egg yolks, extract, and salt together. Add to the flour mixture at speed 2 (on a Kitchen-Aid). Mix for 3-4 minutes. The dough will be quite stiff at this point. Add the butter and mix for another 3-4 minutes. Now the dough will be so soft it will not hold together. Add the remaining 4 TBS of flour and mix until the dough comes back together. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl and pat together into a ball. Place in an oiled bowl and then cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place to rise until it has doubled, between one and two hours.

Roll the dough out on a floured board until it is slightly wider than an 16x12 sheet of parchment.You can't roll the dough out on the parchment, but you will want to transfer it onto the parchment as soon as it is the right size. The parchment can help measure the dough's dimensions. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice parallel cuts one-half inch apart from the sides in toward the middle of the dough. Visually divide the dough into three columns and leave the middle column uncut. (See picture).

Mix together the remaining butter, pecans, and brown sugar. Spread out evenly in the middle section of the dough. Begin folding the side pieces over one side and then the other, "weaving" them into a chevron design. Tuck or fold the ends over/under to form a clean finish. Cover loosely with plastic and let rise another one to two hours, until the loaf is puffy. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Brush the loaf with egg wash and then bake 30 minutes, rotating 180° halfway through. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack before slicing. Bread keeps quite well for 3-4 days if kept in an air tight container.

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

If you've been around here for any time at all, you may have started to notice a pattern. I am a huge fan of using cornmeal in baked goods, and if there are blueberries in said baked goods, even better. There's my cornmeal pie crust, a blueberry lemon cornmeal cake, and my lemon cornmeal cookies. I think you get the idea. And that idea is that cornmeal is just fabulous in so many baked goods.

This past weekend, I gave the combination a try in a pancake version. Wow! In this case, because the batter has a little more liquid, the cornmeal ended up a bit more subtle than in some of those other recipes, but it was still there and still a star player. These pancakes were great right off the griddle with syrup, but they were just as good five hours later as an out of hand snack. I highly recommend them!

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes
Yield: approx. 16 4-inch pancakes

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup whole milk
3 TBS butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix together the first five, dry, ingredients. If you are using buttermilk powder, mix the powder in with the dry ingredients as well. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, mix the buttermilk (or its liquid), milk, butter, and egg together. Add to the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. The mixture may be lumpy. Lastly, add the blueberries. If using frozen berries, I often will not add them to the batter since they start to melt and lead to purple pancakes. Instead, in that case, I place the berries into the pancake once it starts to cook on the griddle.

Heat a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat. Place a small amount of butter in the pan and then wipe down with a paper towel. Spoon approximately 1/3 of a cup of batter on the griddle for each pancake for small, manageable pancakes. You can make them larger, but this size is easier to flip than large ones. Cook until they are slightly dry around the edges and they are nicely browned on the bottom. The top should be full of bubbles and have started to lose its batter look. Flip and continue cooking another two minutes. Extras can be kept warm in a low oven.

Raisin Bread

Please note that I since writing this post, I have posted about soy flour, specifically the fact that I did not realize there were two kinds on the market: regular and defatted. You want to be sure to use defatted soy flour in this recipe. For more information, click here.

My carb induced dreams never tasted as good as they did the first time I made raisin bread from scratch. Those ritual breakfast muffins took a backseat for five whole days while I polished this bad boy off. What's great about raisin bread isn't just the raisins, although they're nice too, it's the subtle spice of the dough. It isn't just bread with raisins in it, it's raisin bread!

This dough has a mixture of white bread flour and whole wheat to give the strength of the bread flour's gluten with the heartiness and tastiness of the whole wheat. It also has a little bit of soy flour in it. Soy flour helps you end up with a loaf that is more moist and tender and it also helps the loaf to have better shelf life. If you can't find soy flour or would rather not use it, you can simply substitute bread flour instead.

This particular recipe utilizes a process called autolyse (pronounced "auto-lease"), where after a few minutes to mix the ingredients, the dough is allowed to sit for a bit before finishing the kneading. This short rest allows the flour to more fully absorb the moisture allowing the gluten to develop more fully. The raisins are added at the very end. Let the dough rise, covered, in a warm place until doubled.

After the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Knead a few times to degas the dough. Using your hands, press the dough out into a large rectangle as wide as the longest dimension of your bread pan. In the photo here, I divided the dough into two smaller loaves and placed into two 4.5 x 8 inch pans, but I wasn't a fan of the proportions of the final loaf. The next time I made this bread, I made a single loaf in a 4.5 x 12 inch pan I picked up at IKEA a few years ago. If you don't have access to a pan like that, I would recommend going for a single 5 x 9 inch loaf pan. Roll the flattened dough up and then pinch the ends down and under to make a tidy log shape. Place in greased loaf pans, pinched sides down. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again until slightly more than doubled.

Gently remove the plastic wrap and place the loaf into a preheated 375° F oven. Bake approximately 30 minutes, until the crust is nice and browned and the loaf has a nice hollow sound when tapped. If you are unsure whether the loaf is properly baked, you can stick an instant read thermometer in the middle and look for a minimum temperature of 200° F. Remove from the pan immediately onto a cooling rack. Let cool completely (or as much as you can) before tearing into the loaf. It will be hard... I'm telling you, this loaf smells goooooood when it's baking!


Raisin Bread
Yield: One 4.5"x12" loaf or one 5"x9" loaf

1 TBS instant yeast
2 1/4 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup defatted soy flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup raisins

Mix together the first eight ingredients (through the sugar) until incorporated. Add the oil, egg yolk, and water and mix together. Knead by hand or with a dough hook in a stand mixer for 7-10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Finally, gently knead in the raisins, just until they are evenly distributed. Mixing too much with the raisins in the dough can start to break the gluten strands, so go easy.

Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until double, about an hour. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Gently knead a few times to degas the dough. Press out into a flat rectangle 9 or 12 inches wide, depending on the loaf pan you are using. Roll the loaf up and pinch the bottom seam together. Then pinch the ends together and down so that from the top, the loaf has a nice shape. Place seam side down in a greased 4.5"x12" or 5"x9" loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until slightly more than double, about another hour.

When the loaf is about half risen, start preheating the oven at 375° F. When the loaf is properly risen, carefully remove the plastic wrap and bake in the center of the oven for approximately 30 minutes. When done, the loaf should have a nice golden crust, sound hollow when thumped, and have an internal temperature around 200° F. Remove from the pan promptly to cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days or over a week in the refrigerator.

NOTES: You can use one package of active dry yeast instead of the instant, but you will need to activate it in the warm water first for five to ten minutes. Therefore, the yeast will be added to the dough with the liquid and not with the dry ingredients. If you do not have soy flour, bread flour can be substituted.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal

As I've mentioned before, my usual breakfast consists of two muffins. Occasionally, especially on the weekends, I like to mix it up and have something different. If my husband has anything to do with it, those weekend breakfasts are very traditional and involve eggs, sausage and toast. Unfortunately, he's not a big fan of baked goods. I have a slew of carbohydrate-rich breakfasts that would make my day, but I try not to overwhelm him with pancakes, waffles, scones, and cinnamon rolls too often.

Interestingly enough, serving oatmeal had never crossed my mind... until the other day when he was nice enough to indulge my soft-serve craving at McDonald's. He noticed that they are now serving oatmeal. The end result of that conversation was that I maybe had another option for our weekend breakfasts. Today was the day to give it a try!

I made an old fashioned oatmeal, meaning I used old fashioned oats. I like my oatmeal to have a little substance to it and not be like glue. Making oatmeal yourself at home is so easy, I'm not really sure why you would ever need those little packets of "instant" oatmeal. Plus, your options for toppings are so much more varied and naturally delicious if you make it yourself.

I topped ours with my maple blueberry topping and some toasted almonds. The combination of flavors and textures was phenomenal!

Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Yield: 2 servings

3/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup old fashioned oats

Mix the water and milk in a sauce pan over medium to medium high heat. When the mixture starts to steam, add the oats and salt. Stir periodically until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the oats are softened but not mushy, about 3-5 minutes. Serve immediately (lest it become pasty) and top with your favorite accompaniments.