Caramel Banana Pecan Muffins

                            

Yet another muffin recipe to share today.  This one might not look like anything to write home about but it most certainly is.  It starts with a banana and cream cheese laced batter then adds crunchy pecans, banana slices, and (hoo-boy!) caramel bits.  Sprinkle it all with some cinnamon sugar, bake it up, and voila--muffin-induced coma.  Yes please!

Caramel Banana Pecan Muffins
{recipe source: dwellonjoy.com}


1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 T sugar
1 t cinnamon

1 3oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 medium very ripe banana, peeled and mashed (approx. 1/2 cup)
1 t vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t kosher salt
Kraft caramel bits (found mine at wal-mart by the choco chips. etc.)

1 medium ripe banana, peeled and thinly sliced
1 T butter melted

Line 12 cup muffin tine with liners.  Spray with cooking spray.  In small bowl combine chopped pecans, 2 T sugar, and 1 t cinnamon.  Set aside.

In mixer, beat cream cheese, butter, and 2/3 cup sugar until creamy. Add the egg and mix to combine.  Beat in mashed banana and vanilla just until combined.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add flour mixture to bowl/wet mixture one spoonful at a time while mixer is stirring on low just until combined.  Stir in 1/4 cup of the pecan mixture.

Spoon about a Tablespoon of the batter into each muffin cup.  Sprinkle on some caramel bits and a slice or 2 of banana.  Spoon another Tablespoon of batter on top.  Mix remaining pecan mixture and 1 T of melted butter together.  Sprinkle some over each muffin cup.

Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.  Cool in pan for a few minutes before removing.  (Can add a caramel drizzle to each baked muffin if you want.)

Basic German Pancake

I have vivid memories of childhood sleepovers at my friend down the street Teresa's mom making this very thing for us come breakfast time. And after a night of playing chinese jumprope non-stop for hours ;0) it was a welcome sight! This was not something we ate at my house and so it was made all the more desirable because I only got to taste of it's goodness every once in a great while.

Enter my adult-life and I realize "Hey, I can make this whenever I want!" and so continues our love story with the delectable German Pancake. Crispy around the edges, soft and buttery in the middle, puffy and best straight from the oven. We all gather round to see what the creation will look like this time. The kids love it just as much as I do. It's a 15 minutes start to finish make and bake time. Easy to a dress up with sauteed apples/cinnamon and the like too. So simple, quick, delicious, and guaranteed you have all the ingredients on hand right now to make it today. Perfect for breakfast any day of the week or even a no-brainer breakfast for dinner, (which is exactly how we have it most often, including this past sunday night!)

Basic German Pancake

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/2 t salt

Turn oven on to 450 degrees. Place stick of butter in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place dish in oven while it preheats so that the butter melts and the dish is hot before adding pancake batter. Be sure and keep an eye on the butter so that it doesn't burn before reaching temp. (It's OK if it browns a bit though.)

Meanwhile in blender crack 6 eggs, add milk, flour, and salt. Blend on high until well combined. Turning off to scrape down sides as needed and remix.

When batter is mixed and oven is hot with butter melted, carefully pour batter into hot baking dish and bake for 6-10 minutes until golden and puffed. Watch your oven carefully, the recipe I have says 15 minutes of bake time, but mine was definitely done by 6 minutes.

Also, be sure your oven rack is in the middle to lower part of the oven with nothing above it. The pancake puffs up pretty high and I've had the lovely experience of it touching the top element and burning or touching the rack above it and not looking very attractive.

Serve immediately sprinkled with powdered sugar and drizzled with your favorite syrup (this recipe is particularly divine), fresh fruit, whatever takes your fancy.

Orange Poppyseed Muffins

I should just start a weekly feature with new muffin recipes. Muffin Monday's anyone? I can't help myself and so I think I'll just have to stop apologizing for the lack of food diversity as of late and simply say there will most likely be plenty more where these came from. Orange. Poppyseed. with glaze. sold. Delightful, essence of spring, drippy sweet, warm muffin. Please make. Done.

Orange Poppyseed Muffins

{recipe from makeitdo.com via pinterest}

2/3 cup granulated sugar

zest and juice of 1 orange

2 cups flour

2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

3/4 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

1 t vanilla

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 T poppy seeds

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 T fresh squeezed orange juice

2 T melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper cups.

Melt butter and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, zest the orange and add granulated sugar. Using your hands, run the orange zest and sugar together until well blended and fragrant. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. Mix until well blended.

In a separate bowl whisk together sour cream, eggs, vanilla, orange juice, and melted butter until well blended. Pour liquid mixture over the dry ingredients. Gently stir to combine. Do not over mix, a few lumps are fine.

Spoon into muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center of center muffin comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, 3 T orange juice, and melted butter until smooth.

Remove muffins from the pan, place on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet beneath to catch extra glaze. Allow to cool a few minutes before drizzling glaze over muffins.

Simple Baked French Toast

Isn't french toast the best? I think so. And a make ahead baked french toast is, in this case, even better. This was simple and quick to throw together with typical on hand ingredients. I loved the chunks rather than slices of bread. And it was wonderful to just toss it in the oven instead of standing over a griddle and painstakingly dipping and frying each individual piece. The subtle maple cinnamon flavor in each bite and crispy on the outside soft on the inside texture make this a breakfast/brunch/breakfast-for-dinner keeper in our house.

Simple Baked French Toast

{recipe from Annie's Eats}

1 loaf of french bread

4 eggs (or 5 depending on loaf size)

1 cup half and half

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 t cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 T vanilla extract

Cut loaf of bread into small 1 inch cubes. Mix remaining ingredients together. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Spread out bread cubes in pan. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375. Uncover french toast and place in oven. Bake 25-30 minutes, until puffed and golden, crispy on top.

Serve with syrup(s), fresh fruit, dusted with powdered sugar--whatever floats your french toast loving boat!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

I am on a serious muffin jag lately. Almost every single muffin recipe I come across makes my mouth water with anticipation. I think I like to trick myself into believing they're somehow a healthy alternative to other baked treats. And perhaps they are (or aren't), but nonetheless I can't stop craving them and making them! I suppose there are worse things?

Now these have got to be of the healthy variety...they're chock full of whole wheat flour and studded with juicy sweet apples. Whatever else they may or may not be, they are most certainly delicious. "MMmmMMMmmmmmmm"uffins!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

{Recipe source: king arthur flour via smittenkitchen.com-slightly adapted by muah-I opted to use all whole wheat flour instead of half wheat/half white}

2 cups whole wheat flour (or half white/half wheat)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 T cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed and divided

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk or yogurt

2 large apples, peeled, cored, and rough chopped

Preheat oven to 450. Line 18 muffin cups with liners, sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix together flour(s), baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, set aside. Cream together butter, granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well, stopping once to scrape down sides of bowl. Mix in buttermilk, gently. Stir in dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin tins, sprinkling with remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Bake for 10 minutes at 450, then turn heat down to 400 and bake an additional 5-10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool muffins for 5 minutes in tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Why stop at single chocolate when you can go double chocolate? We reeealllly liked these. They're obviously closer to a dessert than a breakfast item and that's what we used them for: snacks and after dinner dessert. I opted to sub in some whole wheat flour in a half-hearted effort to wholesome them up, and although it was probably a lost cause health-wise, I really liked the extra texture it added. And by leaving some of the white flour, they still retained an overall light and tender consistency. I think all whole wheat, for a more dense muffin, would work wonderfully as well. Perhaps working in some applesauce in place of the some of the oil would also be a decent alternative.

Totally worth the splurge and my brain would like to think they're still better than a cupcake, so there.

Double Chocolate Muffins

{Slightly adapted from Mels Kitchen Cafe. Makes 24 regular size muffins}

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup white flour

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

3 eggs

1 cup light sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk (Come to think of it I may have accidentally left this out-and shockingly they were fine! How funny!)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 t vanilla

1 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 and line 2 12-spot muffin tins with cupcake liners, each sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl and then add chocolate chips and toss. In bowl of stand mixer combine all wet ingredients. When mixed well pour all dry ingredients in at once and mix briefly on low. You don't want to over-mix muffins, so it's OK if the wet and dry ingredients don't look as combined as you think they should. Stop just short of your mixed comfort level!

Scoop batter into prepared muffin tins-1/2 to 2/3rds full. Bake at 325 for 16-22 minutes. (The original recipe says 16-18, I checked at both 16 and 18 and still kept them in 2-4 minutes longer). They're done when a toothpick test comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove tins from oven and cool on wire rack. I think they're best at almost room temp, when the chocolate chips are just starting to harden again.

Keep leftovers in an airtight container on counter for up to 2 days.

Spinach Cheese Strata

This was our yummy day after Christmas breakfast this year. My family came in that morning and so although we did have a delightful Christmas Day breakfast, we also had this and I think it won out of the 2. It's easy and straightforward to assemble and you're supposed to do it ahead of time, like the night before or early in the morning if having breakfast for dinner. I love a good make-ahead anything. But I did it about 2 hours before and it was still terrific, so whether you plan ahead or not this is going to fill you right up in the best way. I loved it all--the dense egg-baked right in bread, salty, melted cheese, healthy spinach, and my addition of sauteed grape tomatoes on top.

Spinach and Cheese Strata

{Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen}

1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed, and squeezed of all excess liquid, then chopped

OR

a generous couple handfuls of fresh chopped spinach cooked down in some olive oil, lightly salted

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions (1 large)

3 T butter

1 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

1/4 t nutmeg

8 cups 1-inch cubed dense french or italian bread (1/2lb), I used a wheat french bread, it was good!

2 cups grated gruyere

1 cup finely grated parmesan

2 3/4 cups milk

9 large eggs

2 T dijon mustard

1/2 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, briefly sautéed in oil with a little salt and pepper

Saute onion in butter until soft. Add 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute. Stir in spinach, remove from heat and set aside.

Spread one third of bread cubes in a well-buttered 3 quart baking dish. Top with one third of bread cubes, 1/3 spinach mixture, and 1/3 of each cheese. Repeat layering twice.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and remaining 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper together in large bowl and pour evenly over strata. Top with sauteed tomatoes. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 8 hours or up to a day in advance.

When ready to bake, let stand at room temp for 30 minutes and then bake uncovered at 350 for 45-55 minutes. Should be golden, puffed, and cooked through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Amply serves 6-8

Back to School...Breakfasts!

I don't know about you, but our house has some serious issues come school time with getting a healthy, hearty breakfast into ourselves AND packing a lunch that kids are, if not excited, at least interested in eating. So I thought, in an effort to help motivate myself, that a short series dedicated to back-to-school food might be good. We'll start with breakfasts, followed by the always-dreaded school lunches, and finish up with snacks, the during school and after school kind. Sorry no pictures of food this time, just words and links most of which have pictures of their own so you'll get the idea.

Breakfasts...

My kids have always done well with breakfasts of all kinds, I just don't do so well making them anytime but the weekends. So my goal through this winter and school year is to make a hot breakfast for my 2 school age kids as often as possible. {notice I didn't say every day! that would be a recipe for failure on my part} And since we're also no whizzes at giving ourselves ample and leisurely amounts time in the mornings, we obviously need some quick and simple hot homemade breakfast options. Here's a list of my ideas, with explanation and recipe links where appropriate:

Before School Breakfast Ideas:

omelet: a go to and quicker than you think favorite of ours

baked oatmeal: my kids aren't such big fans of the easy make-it-yourself packets of oatmeal, I'm hoping this will be another way to get that hearty classic breakfast into them. Plus it doesn't hurt that I think it looks fabulous!

**Update (8/23/11)-This was as good as it promised to be! and my kids loved the idea that they were practically eating "cake" for breakfast. With strawberries and milk it was over the top good, we all had 2 helpings. I used old-fashioned oats and it was good, but I think texture-wise quick-cooking would be a bit better, that's what I'll be trying next and I'm pretty sure they'll be the way to go.

oatmeal pancake mix: Oh my goodness, we love this so much! The mix is easy to whip together. The batter is even easier to throw together. The pancakes seem relatively healthy to me. And we can't stop eating them! Just a note I recommend grinding the oatmeal as she suggests, and we use regular milk, rather than buttermilk, with much success...we like our pancakes a little thinner and more crepe-like anyhow.

refrigerator bran muffins: I have yet to try these but they're on the menu this week and I've seen more than one version of this concept floating around in numerous places. I love the idea of a batter that stays ready and waiting in the fridge for 30 days. 30 days people! Not to mention, you can make as few or as many at a time as your heart desires. I also imagine that first thing in the morning preheating the oven, scooping some batter into a few muffin liners, and popping it all in the oven while we move on to other morning rituals such as getting dressed and gathering school items, takes virtually no time and then to have hot muffins jam-packed with all kinds of healthy fiber waiting for you at the end might just be brilliant! i hope my kids like them, I'm sure I will.

**Update (8/20/11): We made, we baked, we LOVED! Both my older kids came back asking for more, they had 2 and 2 1/2 respectively. I opted for 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1 cup white, having not made them any other way I see no reason to not keep it that way! Also make a batch of this honey butter for slathering inside and out and you have breakfast or snack muffin perfection (who cares that it's slightly less healthy!)

Yogurt Fruit smoothies & cinnamon sugar toast: Yogurt smoothies are quite possibly the best breakfast option ever. My kids can't get enough and really how long does it take to throw a 1/2 a cup of your favorite yogurt, a fresh or frozen banana, a cup of some kind(s) of frozen fruit, a dash of juice or milk, and possibly some honey into the blender and press "blend"? Not long, I promise! And just FYI, I find that keeping a large container of vanilla yogurt in the fridge and a well-stocked with frozen fruit freezer is a sure-fire way to have smoothie success at the drop of a hat.

Breakfast Burritos: We've been making these for a full decade and still never tire of them. You basically just saute some onions in butter, add eggs and scramble. We usually add some kind of meat to ours once the eggs are mostly set, either bacon or kielbasa sausage that has been cooked and crumbled or browned and chopped. Top the whole yummy mess with grated cheese, slap it on a warmed flour or corn tortilla with some salsa, roll, and eat away. Delicious and potentially self-contained if you're on the run. Those tortillas are way better then plastic wrap!

Homemade Egg McMuffins: McDonald's is gross. There I said it. We occasionally eat at McDonald's. There I said that too. Despite it all a person has to admit that breakfast sandwiches are pretty ingenious. So why not make your own at home and skip the fast-food fat? Here again, this is a pretty basic and very flexible concept-eggs of some kind (scrambled, fried, poached), toasted bread of some kind (we stick with english muffins-and you can even get wheat these days), cheese (because it's yummy), and breakfast meat (sausage patty, bacon, sliced ham). Some spinach, sliced tomato, heck-grilled onions wouldn't hurt either and could easily take the place of meat. Also, we're fans of ketchup or salsa as a condiment. Layer it all together sandwich style and voile, your own homemade mcmuffin that maybe took you 15 minutes tops! Definitely doable before school and you can't tell me those aren't going to keep your kids nice and full till lunch.

And for the days we're just not on the ball and running late, the kids went to bed late, or we're all just too darn tired--there'll always be our well-stocked help yourself cold cereal cupboard and eggo's in the freezer!

Here's hoping we have a successful school year full of many hot and yummy breakfasts!

If you have favorite before school breakfast recipes/ideas, I'd love to hear about them...

The Basic "Actually Cooked" Omelet

I've only recently made omelets a part of my life. Sure I've had them before, but I have a thing with eggs. If there is even the remotest possibility that they might be even slightly undercooked my gag reflex kicks into high gear. I can't eat runny yolk fried eggs (I usually nix the yolk altogether and just fry the whites) and don't even get me started on sunny-side-up- runny-white-part things...so gross! Anyhow back to omelets, since the traditional method involves adding the toppings to a still fairly runny top and then folding it in half and hoping it keeps cooking (ya right) or serving it immediately, there is always (you guessed it) a runny uncooked egg thing going on. But thanks to my husband who was apparently craving an omelet enough to look up how-to video's on youtube, we have found a cooking method that satisfies his craving and squelches my gag reflex. Since this revelation we've had omelets quite regularly and often for dinner. They're a crowd pleaser too. Now go forth and make "actually cooked" omelets, unless you like the runny egg thing ;0)...

The Basic "Actually Cooked" Omelet

{Again as with most of my recipes, there's room to personalize. Whatever veggie, cheese, breakfast meat (or not) combo you want is yours to try. Also this recipe is instruction heavy, but really isn't that involved once you've got the method down. I spend all of about 10 minutes, including prep, making these.}

3 large eggs

2 T milk

salt and pepper to taste

2 T butter

1 T olive oil

Cooking spray or veggie oil

Toppings of choice, we like:

Generous handful of spinach, rough chopped

3-4 slices cooked crumbled bacon (or chopped ham or browned kielbasa)

Generous handful of sliced mushrooms

1/3 onion, finely chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped (or grape tomatoes sliced in half)

Sliced or grated swiss cheese (colby, monterey jack, cheddar, mozzarella are all good options)

Salsa, optional

Turn oven onto high broil. Start by preparing toppings, i.e. cook & crumble bacon, grate cheese and chop other things up-you want all your prep done before the eggs start. In a small non-stick pan over med-high heat, melt 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook till mostly soft. Add spinach and remove from heat. It will wilt on it's own.

On medium-high begin heating a medium size stainless steel or other pan that can go straight from stove to oven. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl crack 3 large eggs, add 2 T milk and a sprinkle of salt and fresh-ground pepper. Mix well with fork. Spray the heating pan with cooking spray or use paper towel to swirl around a little bit of veggie oil. Add 1 T butter. You want to be fairly thorough in your oil/butter application in order to prevent pesky sticking later on. When butter is melted (but before it browns), pour egg mixture into hot pan. This next part is key: with a heat-friendly plastic spatula begin pulling cooking egg mixture from outside of pan towards center allowing still raw egg to run underneath and start cooking. Go all around the pan gently pulling cooking egg towards center and more runny egg to fill it's place. The process looks a little like this:

When there's still some, but not a ton, of the runny egg mixture and you've been around the whole pan at least once it's time to pop it under the broiler. It should be in there for a minute or so. You're just trying to get the top of the omelet mostly set. Remove from broiler and sprinkle on toppings: cooked bacon, mushroom/onion/spinach mixture, chopped tomatoes, and cheese of choice. Put back under broiler for another minute or less, until cheese is melted and any remaining runny egg is fully set. Once done remove from oven and gently use spatula to fold one half of the omelet over on itself. At this point, you can top with extra cheese and broil for just a few seconds more to help it melt. Tip pan a bit and with the help of your trusty spatula again, the omelet should slide right out onto a plate. We like to eat ours with some salsa on top. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Waffles with Dutch Honey

I'll be the first to admit that most mornings we're eating cold cereal. It's just far to convenient and the kids can get it all by themselves. But every now and then a hot and yummy breakfast is in order. I'll also be the first to admit that I often times go the Bisquick route for pancakes and waffles, it's what I grew up on and I genuinely like it! However these sour cream waffles take almost the same amount of time to whip up and this time had me wondering why I don't opt for them more frequently. I shall remedy that starting now. They are light and yet filling and are just an all around good basic recipe. If you've yet to try made from scratch waffles, let this be your first recipe and if you're a homemade waffle making pro add this to the repertoire. Either way, you won't be sorry!

As for the "Dutch Honey" portion of this recipe. It's pretty much the yummiest homemade syrup around. Creamy, buttery (with no actual butter) goodness. It's also versatile: use it on top of ice cream, drizzled over pound cake, and of course on any other typical breakfast fare. Or just lick it off the spoon...not that I'd know anything first hand about that.

Sour Cream Waffles

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 T sugar

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 stick (8T) butter, melted

1 1/4 cups milk

1/2 cup sour cream

3 large eggs

Heat waffle iron. Meanwhile, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, milk, sour cream, and eggs. Pour into dry ingredients and stir till mostly smooth, don't overmix. Spray hot waffle iron with cooking spray (and I recommend doing this for each waffle), pour in appropriate amount of batter. Cook per manufacturer's directions. Serve hot, slathered with butter and Dutch Honey.

Dutch Honey

{Recipe from my sis-in-law Sam}

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup light karo syrup

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

In small saucepan over med-high heat, place cream, karo syrup, and sugar. Stir to combine. Let come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat. Add 1 t vanilla. Serve warm over waffles or pancakes. Keeps well in fridge, although why wouldn't you just drink it all before that becomes necessary?!

Pineapple Coconut Smoothie

Aren't smoothies the best? They're great for breakfast or anytime of the day AND they even pass for dessert, at least with my family. Plus they're healthy. Who ever heard of a healthy dessert? Score!

This smoothie is reminiscent of one of my all-time favorite drinks: Pina Colada. And with a touch of cream (optional but a must in my opinion) it's border-line decadent. See? Dessert!

Pineapple Coconut Smoothie

Note: This recipe is all about adjusting to taste. Amounts listed are more suggestions than musts.

3/4 to 1 cup vanilla yogurt (Tip: We buy the big 32 oz. containers so there's always some in the fridge for smoothies or snacks)

1 can (8oz.) crushed pineapple with juice

1 can (6oz.) pineapple juice

1 ripe banana

Small handful (approx.. 1/4 cup) coconut

1-2 cups frozen, sliced peaches

Ice cubes

2 T or so whipping cream

Optional toasted coconut and sweetened whipped cream for garnish

In blender place yogurt, crushed pineapple, pineapple juice, banana, and coconut. Blend until smooth. Add frozen peaches, blend till smooth. Check consistency and add ice cubes if desired. Finish off with generous dash of cream, blend again. Taste and add whatever more you'd like. Garnish and serve immediately.