So You Grew a Garden... Now What? 8

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Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins

Wow, that's a mouthful (no pun intended :))! Seriously though, these muffins are really great. They are everything a good muffin should be. Moist, flavorful and filling without being too heavy. But the very best part about these muffins is the smell. I can't even describe how delicious my house smelled while these muffins were baking. I couldn't wait to eat them so I had one pretty much as soon as they came out of the oven. These are going to be a welcome breakfast treat for the rest of this week.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins
(Adapted from: Food for my Life)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat white flour (I use King Arthurs)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a muffin tin with liners.
In a small bowl blend the dry streusel ingredients. Use your fingers to work butter into the flour/sugar mixture.
Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
In a bowl combine the applesauce, butter and brown sugar.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the wet ingredients.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Fill the muffin liners 3/4 of the way full (about 1/3 of cup per muffin) and top with the streusel mixture.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Double Berry Muffins

You know, if I'm not careful people are not going to believe me when I say that I don't like cooked fruit... I guess I will say that I am expanding my palate and I can now tolerate different types of cooked fruit in muffin or coffee cake form. But I still say that you won't catch me eating an apple pie anytime soon! Ick.

Now for the recipe at hand. My grocery store had raspberries on sale today for 99 cents and blueberries for 2.50. I bought both and quickly decided that I wanted to make muffins (It's going to be perfect for my 6:30 am rode trip tomorrow!). I used my new favorite search mechanism (searching foodgawker, I'm a sucker for a pretty picture) and I found a recipe that looked a little different from my usual muffin base. It came together pretty quickly and they smell fantastic. I will say that I am not sure that the preserves actually did anything for my muffins other than turning the batter greyish so next time I think I will leave them out. I also think that the crumb topping needs a little adjusting so I will make those changes below. Other than that this recipe turned out great! I would definitely make these muffins again.

Double Berry Muffins
(Source: original recipe for Raspberry and Jam Muffins found on Joy the Baker)

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2- 1 cup frozen or fresh berries (I used raspberries and blueberries)

For the topping:

4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

Put a rack in the upper third of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Generously butter muffin cups or line with cupcake papers.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat; remove from heat. Whisk in milk, egg, yolk and vanilla until well combined.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently but thoroughly fold in the berries.

Divide batter among muffin cups and spread evenly.

For the topping:

Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.

Bake until golden and crisp and a wooden pick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 18-22 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around edges of muffin tops and carefully remove from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 muffins

Raspberry Swirl Coffee Cake

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Breakfast Casserole

I think that breakfast casserole is the kind of thing that everyone and their mother has great recipe for. It seems like every family I know has their own version of it. This just happens to be the version that my family has always used (with a few slight modifications on my part). In fact, this casserole is a Christmas tradition for my family. It's not Christmas morning if we're not eating this casserole. I can even remember a late Christmas Eve when the entire family was worn out from the party that my parents had just hosted and my mom saying "Do we really need the casserole?" and everyone responding with a resounding "YES!"

This week I was invited to a brunch and I immediately thought of this casserole. I mean, I've had this blog for almost 2 (!!) years now and I have never blogged it. So last night I threw it all together and this morning I baked it and it was hot and delicious for the brunch.


My Families Breakfast Casserole

6 slices of bread torn into bite size chunks
1 tube of breakfast sausage (I used Jimmy Dean's Reduced Fat Pork Sausage)
8 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper (depending on your own taste, I added this to the recipe that my mom uses because I LOVE pepper)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and start to brown the sausage. While it is browning, in a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk and spices. When the sausage is finished set aside to cool for a minute. Add the the torn bread pieces to the egg mixture and stir until moist. Next stir in the sausage and 1 cup of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture into a 9x13 pan. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until the cheese on top starts to turn golden brown and bubbly. *I kept the foil over the top for the first 25 minutes. I'm not sure if my mom does that or not.

Pumpkin Muffins

I know it's not the right season for pumpkin things but I don't really care :) I love pumpkin flavored baked goods and pumpkin muffins just sounded good. I pulled this recipe from the King Arthur website and it was good. I think when I make them again I will substitute applesauce for the vegetable oil because after a day or so they were kind of dry. Despite that, they did have a great flavor and the tops were beautifully puffy!

Pumpkin Muffins
(Source: King Arthur)


1 cup (8 ounces) pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons (2 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose or King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, molasses, salt, spices, and milk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Add all at once to the wet ingredients and mix until all ingredients are well combined. Drop about 3 tablespoons (or a scant quarter cup) of the batter into the greased leaf molds, or the wells of a prepared muffin pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until firm to the touch for leaf molds; 18 to 20 minutes for regular muffins. Yield: 16 to 18 leaf shaped muffins, or 12 regular muffins.

More Muffins

I am continuing on my quest to make muffins every weekend but in the process I have realized that if I am going to make them every weekend and blog about them (my goal)..... I am going to have to broaden my horizons. Anyone that knows me well knows that I have a fear of cooked fruit. I don't eat pies, cobblers, breads, etc with big old chunks of mushy cooked fruit. It makes me gag. Typically the only exception to that rule is blueberries in muffins. I thought about this weekend and I decided that if I could handle a blueberry in a muffin I just might be able to handle something else. About 2 years ago I made strawberry bread that was a huge hit and I actually enjoyed it, so I decided I would try and make strawberry muffins.

The result is pretty good. I am in love with the muffin part. There is a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg that is just fantastic. The fruit chunks....I'm handling. I think next time I will pop the strawberries in the fruit processor first that way I won't have to bite into a chunk of them. But all in all this was a great recipe, one that I would make again. I forgot to add the cinnamon sugar topping this time but I think it would make a great addition.



Strawberry Muffins
(Source: Eggs on Sunday)

2 cups all-purpose flour (can substitute up to 1 cup white whole wheat flour, or whole grain pastry flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup diced strawberries

cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling on top

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or silicone muffin cups.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon.

In a separate large bowl, use your fingers to rub together the lemon zest and sugar until the sugar is moistened and fragrant. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and whisk together until blended. Add the melted butter and whisk until thoroughly combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula. Add the diced strawberries and fold in, just until distributed.

Spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of each, then bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger.

Makes 12 muffins.

Also I have to sneak this picture in here because my cat is so cute. She can't stand not knowing what is going on and she just hopped right up in the window sill while I was taking pictures :)

Mmm mmm mmm Muffins

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Sugar and Spice Muffins

Once again it has been way to long since I've updated! For the first time in a couple weeks I have no plans for today so I'm going back and adding all of the stuff that I have been compiling over the last few months.

I'll start with these muffins. I actually made these back in JUNE! I haven't made them again yet but I plan to, maybe even today! These had a great texture and wonderful flavor. I was worried that they might be too sweet, but that wasn't the case at all. They almost have the flavor of a cake doughnut, mmmmm.....



Sugar and Spice muffins
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
* 3/4 cup milk
*
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup butter, melted


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together oil, 3/4 cup sugar, egg and milk. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture, just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, mix together 3/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

While muffins are still hot, dip tops in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Better late than never....right?

Well folks, I have obviously been a total blog SLACKER. May and June are extremely busy months for me, and while I still cook and bake, I just haven't had time to keep up the blog. That being said, I completely missed the May Daring Bakers challenge. Shame, shame, I know. I had every intention of completing the June challenge on time, but sadly we had a death in the family. My wonderful, funny, athletic, handsome Uncle Scott passed away suddenly from cardiac arrest. As a child I always looked forward to the times when Scott would come in town because he was such a fun guy. He would lift me high in the air and spin me around and was full of jokes. He will truly be missed. If you're interested here is a link to a wonderful article about him, it was written by the college where he worked as a volleyball coach. http://www.tnutrojans.com/article/121.php. Scott Jones of America you will missed.

On that note, I dedicate my June challenge to my Uncle Scott. Thank you to our wonderful hosts this month, Kellypea and Ben. Please be sure to check out the Daring Baker's blogroll to see what everyone else is up to.

DANISH BRAID
(source: Sherry Yard's from The Secrets of Baking)



Makes enough for 2 large braids ----------> Yeah, I guess I didn't read this and I made one HUGE braid, LOL, no wonder I didn't think there was enough filling!

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (I used a cream cheese filling)

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
½ cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
¾ teaspoon ground cardamom (I did not use this)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
¼ cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
½ pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour

BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.


Cream Cheese Filling
(My recipe)
1 block of cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup flour
1 egg

In a mixer or with a hand mixer blend all ingredients. Chill for an hour so it won't be to runny (this is an after thought, mine was definitely runny!).

Cinnamon Rolls

A while back I made the Cinnabon Clone recipe from allrecipes.com, I remember reading the reviews for that recipe and a couple of people mentioning another recipe that they liked better, also from allrecipes.com. So when I decided that I had to have some Cinnamon rolls this weekend I thought I would try the other recipe. Now that I have tried both recipes I think that I prefer the Cinnabon clone recipe, but I'm still in search for a roll with a nice light tender dough. The dough for this recipe turned out to be pretty tough. I kind of new it would be last night when I went to roll it out. It took a lot of work to get the dough to roll out to the right length. The dough wasn't very elastic at all. In the end to get it to roll out properly I sprayed both sides with a little water and held onto the bottom with one hand while I used my other hand to push the rolling pin away from. Sounds complicated? It was. Then on the last rise the rolls wouldn't quite double in size.

Don't get me wrong, the rolls were still pretty tasty. Just not nearly as light and flaky as I would have liked. But be your own judge. Here is the recipe. I only made a few changes and those will be marked in Italics.


Cinnamon Rolls III
(Source: Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS

* 1/4 cup warm water
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
* 1 cup warm milk
* 1 egg, room temperature
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 4 cups bread flour
* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
*
* 1/4 cup butter, softened (I added 1/4 tsp vanilla to the butter before spreading on dough)
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 3/4 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these)
*
* 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also used 1/4 tsp lemon extract)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start.
When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough. (At this point I placed a sheet of parchment paper over the dough and used my rolling pin to press the butter/filling into the dough)
Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

Sunday Morning Pancakes

Spur of the moment I decided that hot chocolate was not enough this morning. I was in the mood for some big fluffy pancakes. I picked the first recipe I came across and this is what I got. I have to admit that I had no milk this morning so I subbed half and half that I watered down a little bit (weird I know but I was craving pancakes and I didn't want to go to the store). I couldn't believe how much these pancakes puffed up! They were super thick and delicious. I think I would have had better results if I used an actual griddle, but we don't have one so a family size skillet had to work. I also cut the recipe in half so I wouldn't have left overs and I wish I wouldn't have. Allrecipes.com says serving size "10", but really they mean 10 pancakes not servings. Below I have the recipe in it's original form, since I wouldn't half it if I made it again.

Clark Gable Pancakes
(recipe source: allrecipes.com)

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons baking powder (this is really too much I used less)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 cup milk (i had that weird substitute of half and half and water)
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* I also added about a tbsp of sugar


DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the egg, milk, and oil. Add flour, baking powder and salt, mix until smooth.
2. Pour 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake on hot, oiled griddle. Turn when golden brown. Serve hot.

Sweet and Simple

One of my all time favorite breakfasts is french toast. Of course having a HUGE sweet tooth probably has something to do with. It's just such a simple breakfast, yet it hits the spot every time. Of course it seems like every family has their own way of making it. Jesse looked at me like I had 3 heads the first time I put cinnamon in our french toast. So this is MY version of french toast.

Jessica's French Toast

4 slices honey wheat bread
2 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt
1 tbsp butter
Powdered sugar and/or maple syrup to taste

Beat the eggs in the bottom of a wide flat bowl (I actually like to use a small baking dish). Stir in the cinnamon, vanilla, sugar and salt. Let each piece of toast soak in the egg mixture on each side for 30 seconds. In the bottom of a large flat skillet or griddle melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the slices of bread and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until the outside of the bread has a nice golden brown color. Serve with powdered sugar and/or maple syrup.

Blueberry muffins

While strolling through the grocery store last night I came across a sign that said blueberries 2 for 4. I don't typically use fruit as ingredient but I make an exception for blueberry muffins. I was a little bit nervous because I have only ever made them from a box before. But I thought why not, they were on sale! So first thing this morning I made a batch and we had them for breakfast. They were very good. This recipe is a keeper!

Blueberry Muffins
Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 ½ c. flour
¾ c. sugar
½ t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
~1/3 c. milk
1 cup blueberries (or more)

streusel topping:
¼ c. sugar
2 T. and 2 t. flour
2 T. butter, cubed
¾ t. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease or line 8 muffin wells with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Pour into lined muffin cups; fill to the top.

To make streusel topping, combine listed ingredients and mix well with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over tops of muffins.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes.

Pink yourself!

Today at work we had a breast cancer awareness day. We all wore pink and donated money to the Susan G Koman foundation. In honor of the day we were all supposed to bring in healthy food - and try to make it pink if we can. I was torn. How could I still bake something tastey, have it be health AND make it pink. I searched and searched and finally settle on Strawberry Bread. I personally do not care for cooked fruit in any form. So I typically shy away from any kind of "fruit bread". But I actually tried a small piece and...... I liked it!!

The bread wasn't quite as pink as I wanted and neither was the icing. So I added a couple drops of red food coloring. It came out a little more Pepto Bismol-ey than I wanted but still very tasty.


Strawberry Bread (Recipe from recipezaar.com)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups mashed strawberries
1 1/4 cups oil (I used 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup apple sauce)
4 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup strawberry juice, drained from mashed strawberries I just used the left over mashed strawberries since I didn't have a lot of juice to drain off
8 ounces softened cream cheese
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon baking powder


1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix first five ingredients together.
3. Make a well in centre of mixture.
4. Stir strawberries, oil and eggs in by hand .
5. Pour into two greased 9x5" loaf pans. I used one bundt pan
6. Bake at given temperature for 50 to 60 minutes.
7. Cool on wire rack.
8. For topping, blend reserved strawberry juice with cream cheese. Drizzle over cooled loaves. I just mixed this in the same bowl that I mashed the strawberries in because there was about a 1/2 cup left stuck to the sides and bottom. I also added honey and couple drops of food coloring

Mother's day brunch....

Wow! We had quite the meal this morning. I am still stuffed. First let me show off how cute my table looked :)


We had fruit salad, breakfast burritos and Cinnamon rolls.

For the breakfast burritos I made scrambled eggs with southwest seasoning, black beans, salsa, colby-jack shredded cheese, bacon, sausage and wheat tortillas. In the fruit salad I had strawberries, kiwi, grapes, apple and mandarin oranges (from the can because I can't peel oranges).

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Thursday nights have officially turned into my baking night! It is so nice to finally have a night off during the week to do something for ME! Tonight I decided to make a nice little breakfast treat. I looked through my cookbooks, allrecipes.com, and foodnetwork.com and blended some recipes to come up with what I finally used.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream

Filling (mix well in bowl, I make 2 batches of this):
2- 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2- 1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.
In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In large bowl cream together sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla.
Slowly beat in the flour mixture and sour cream (little flour, little sour cream, little flour, little sour cream....)
Spoon half of batter into pan. Sprinkle the first half of filling on top. Then spoon the other half batter over filling.
On top sprinkle the other half of filling.
Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cinnabon Clones

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, it is a Cinnabon "clone" and we were very pleased with the flavor. The dough was not as elastic as I would have liked so next time I will use a little more butter in the dough (the recipe below will reflect this change).

INGREDIENTS

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

German Pancake

Typically German Pancakes are made in a cast iron skillet. I did not have a cast iron skillet so I just used a pie pan, which explains how smooth the sides and inside of the pancake are. But, I can assure that this recipe is tasty no matter the type of pan used to make it.

German Pancake.

Ingredients
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

couple of dashes of cinnamon

Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place butter in a cast iron skillet (or pie pan) and set in oven.

Beat eggs in a standing mixer then slowly add the milk and flour, then the vanilla, sugar and cinnamon.

Pour batter into hot pie pan. Return pie pan to oven and bake for 20 minutes. It will rise like a souffle, then fall when taken out of oven.

Lightly dust with powdered sugar and serve with maple sugar or fresh fruit preserves.