Berry Best Muffins

I found this recipe in a cook book that the Young Women in our ward put together and sold as their girls-camp fund raiser.  I've discovered that I like my quick breads and muffins much more when they have some sort of topping; this is one such recipe.  The berries can be fresh or frozen.  Enjoy!

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped and toasted
2 Tbsp. butter

1 1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 c. berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries)

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  For streusel topping: mix brown sugar, 1/3 c. flour and 1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest together in a bowl.  Stir in nuts and 2 Tbsp. butter.  Mix together until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.  Set aside.
2.  For muffins: combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.  Add milk, butter and egg to the well and mix just until dry ingredients are well incorporated.  Fold in berries.  Spoon into 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each only 2/3 full.  Top with 1 Tbsp. of the topping.  Do not overfill.  Bake on middle rack 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Place on rack and cool 5 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

This is sort of a chain reaction recipe.  I found it on Pinterest on the blog http://sugarandspice-celeste.blogspot.com/2008/12/absolutely-sinful-cinnamon-rolls.html who copied the recipe from Pioneer Woman.  I have to say these really are Uh-May-Zing.  I didn't do them overnight I baked them the same day I made them.  I do, however, plan to use that little trick in the future.  I also will at some point freeze the cinnamon rolls to use at a later date and if I have any negative feedback with either of these methods, I will note them in an appendage to this post.  I didn't use the coffee flavored glaze that PW and S&S use on their rolls, instead I used a cream cheese frosting recipe I found on Epicurius, it was really, really perfect.  In both the PW and the S&S recipes it calls for 1 c. white sugar, I opted for 1/2 cup white and 1/2 cup brown sugar because I like the caramely flavor the brown sugar provides..  Several reviewers on Sugar and Spice said that their dough was very wet; mine was not.  It was a bit on the stiff side, but in the end it didn't matter.  The rolls turned out perfectly: gooey where they need to be, crusty where they need to be, and delicious where they need to me: in my mouth.  I ate 4 in as many days and do not at all regret my decision.  I honestly don't think I will ever use another cinnamon roll recipe.  I did use a little trick I kind of made up for the rising time: I preheated my oven to warm (in my oven that is 175) and put my pizza stone in it while it preheated.  After it was done, I took the pizza stone out of the oven, put it in the microwave and put the bowl with the dough that needed to rise on top of the pizza stone, closed the microwave door, and let the warmth do it's work: like a charm, the dough rose just the right amount. 

2 c. whole milk
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
4 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 Tbsp. salt

1 c. melted butter, plus more as needed
1/8 c. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar  

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. butter, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1.  Mix milk, vegetable oil, and 1/2 c. white sugar in a pan.  Scald the milk (heat until just before the boiling point).  Remove from the heat and let cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2.  When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in the yeast.  Let this sit for a minute then add 4 c. of the flour.  Stir mixture together.  Cover and let rise for at least 1 hour.
3.  Next, add 1/2 c. flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Stir mixture together.  From here, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it, overnight or even a day or tow, if necessary.  Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to rise out of the pan, just punch it down.  Or continue to make the rolls:
4.  Sprinkle work surface generously with flour and roll the dough into a thin rectangle shape, about 1/4" thick.  Brush melted butter on top, then sprinkle sugar over the butter, and finish with a generous sprinkling for cinnamon.
5.  Starting with the wide end, roll the dough tightly towards you in a neat line.  Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it.  Spread 1 Tbsp. melted butter in each pan/dish (I got enough rolls to fill one 9" round cake pan and one 6" round cake pan, the original recipe says it will make 3-4 pans, I'm not sure how that would happen, but that's what they say) .  With a sharp knife (or with dental floss) begin cutting the dough into 1 inch slices.  Lay them in your pans.  Let rise for 20-30 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 13-17 minutes, or until golden brown.
6.  While rolls are baking: with your electric hand mixer, whisk together all of the frosting ingredients until smooth.  Slather over the top of the rolls after they have cooled for about 10 minutes.

IF MAKING AHEAD FOR LATER USE:  Instead of putting directly into the oven, put the assembled rolls into the fridge and let them rise for their 2nd rising (the step right before you bake them) in the refrigerator overnight.  Then in the morning let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then bake them as directed.  If you plan to freeze the rolls, place the pan of prepared rolls in the freezer.  On the day you plan to bake them.  Take them out to defrost and rise about 3 or 4 hours before you want to devour eat them.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

I freely admit it.  If lemons were people they would be my best friends.  I love them.  Living in Citrus land we have an abundance of the little gems.  I love their color, their smell, their flavor, the way they brighten everything they come in contact with, the power they hold over fish, the use in both sweet and savory dishes.  I don't know if I would be willing to live in a world where the lemon was non-existent. 
I had some fresh blueberries who were just about to go bad and some lemons who were calling out to me to be made into something delicious.  I came across this recipe and knew it was what these two ingredients were meant to become. 
This is a perfect quick bread recipe, soft and awesome in the middle and crusty on the edges.  You might think you don't want the end pieces because they are almost on the too brown side, but that is the piece you should fight for; it has soaked in all of the lemon/sugar glaze goodness and become the perfect bite. 
I made this recipe for the first time about 2 weeks ago and have since made (and eaten, almost single handedly) an additional 5 loaves (one I gave away).  It does not last long around our house.  The only one who doesn't love it is my 5-year old, but that's fine with me because that means one less person I have to share with. 
Tips:  I've made it separately with both fresh and frozen blueberries, both turn out great, the frozen blueberry loaf takes just a little bit longer to cook.  I've also tried baking 2 loaves at the same time and this also, takes a bit longer; I think I would rotate the pans if I did this again (swap which side of the oven they are on, left to right/right to left).  The lemons I use come from my mother-in-laws garden and are significantly more juicy than those I would get at the grocery store.  When I make the lemon/sugar glaze I use all the juice from one lemon, it is more than 2 Tbsp. but works perfectly still, (the lemons seem to give on average 1/3 c. juice).

Awesome!

1/3 c. butter, melted
1 c. sugar
1 lemon, juiced
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
2 Tbsp. lemon zest
1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not defrost if using frozen)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 c. sugar
The zest from 1 lemon

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a 9X5" (or three 3X5" mini loaf pans) loaf pan, set aside.
2.  Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl cream together the butter and sugar; add the eggs and beat well.  Mix in the juice from 1 lemon and 2 Tbsp. lemon zest.  Add the flour half of the dry ingredients, then the milk, followed by the remaining dry ingredients, just until combined (mixing too long with make your bread tough and dry).  Gently fold in the berries. 
3.  Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 60-70 (35-45 for mini loaves) minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
4.  While bread is baking mix together the 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, 1/4 c. sugar and the remaining lemon zest.  When bread comes out of the oven and is still hot, pour the lemon/sugar mixture over the bread.  Cool completely and try to not eat the whole loaf in one sitting.

Pancakes

One of my new goals for the school year is to have a real breakfast for my kids before they leave in the morning.  Cereal only occasionally.  I've had this recipe in my binder for years and have never tried it until this morning.  I don't know where I found it but it's title says it's the recipe for the pancakes at a restaurant chain who claim they have pancakes from around the world. 
For some reason the recipe as I have it in my binder does not include any liquid.  I added some milk just to get it to a batter consistency, I'm not sure how much it was.  Probably less than 1 cup, maybe 2/3 cup.  Also it might need a little salt, I'll add maybe 1/4 teaspoon next time. 
They were very good.  A little sweeter than store bought pancake mix recipes.  The texture was excellent.  I will use these as my go-to pancakes from now on.

Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/4 c. flour
1 egg
1/4 c. sugar
1 heaping tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. cooking oil

1.  Preheat skillet over medium heat.  Use a pan with nonstick surface or apply a little non stick cooking spray.
2.  In a blender or with a mixer, combine all of the remaining ingredients until smooth.
3.  Pour the batter by spoonfuls onto the hot pan, forming 5" circles.
4.  When the edges appear to harden, flip the pancakes.  They should be light brown.
5.  Cook on the other side for same amount of time, until light brown.

Yield: 8-10 pancakes

Ham and Spinach Quiche

Adam said this is the best quiche he's ever had.  I thought it was tastey too.  The kids were not the biggest fans, but ate it anyway.  They also don't love pie (whose kids are these anyway?!), so maybe I shouldn't have told them it was egg pie, I might have ruined the experience before it even began.
I didn't have a deep dish pie crust, so I made 2 regular 9" pies.

1/2 c. butter
3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, chopped
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (4.5 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1 (6 oz) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled
1 (8 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
1 c. chopped ham
4 eggs
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.  Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta, ham and 1/2 c. cheddar cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon into pie crust.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Pour into pie crust, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center.  Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Toffee Apple French Toast

This was very, very good. The only change I would make to the original recipe next time would be to soak the bread overnight in the egg/milk mixture then when I’m ready to put it in the oven I would assemble it. When I made it, the bread didn’t look like there was enough of it, so I added more, then I ended up needing to add more egg/milk so it turned out slightly different than it was probably intended. Plus the bread on the top ended up being almost crouton-like, delicious, but still crouton-y. One of my concerns was that it would turn out too soggy, but I used day-old sourdough bread and it turned out very tasty. The knife that was supposed to test clean never did after about 45 minutes at 350° then another 10 at 400° so I just called it done and it was cooked through. The cream cheese mixture is very rich and buttery and using tart apples (I ended up using 3 instead of the 2 called for and sliced them instead of chopping them) makes this a perfect breakfast recipe.

8 c. cubed French bread (1 inch cubes)
2 medium tart apples, peeled and chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
¾ c. packed brown sugar
¼ c. sugar
1 ¾ c. milk, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
½ c. English toffee bits or almond brickle chips
5 eggs

1. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 13X9 inch baking dish; top with apples. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugars, ¼ c. milk and 1 tsp. vanilla until smooth; stir in toffee bits. Spread over apples. Top with remaining bread cubes. In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and remaining milk and vanilla; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Yield: 8 servings

Crepes

These are time consuming to make, so I suggest making them ahead on a day when you have the extra time, layering them with wax paper between each crepe and freezing until you’re ready to eat them (up to 1 month). The filling options are enormous, and it’s fun to make up your own flavor combinations. My favorite is with fruit salsa, orange fruit dip, and Nutella; it’s completely amazing!

Basic Sweet

½ c. flour
½ c. milk
¼ c. lukewarm water
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 ½ Tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt


1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
2. Pour the batter into a pitcher or other container with a pouring lip. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes or refrigerate for up to 2 days. (This allows the flour to thoroughly absorb the liquid and gives the gluten in the flour a chance to relax).
3. Place a nonstick or seasoned crêpe pan over medium heat. Coat the pan with a little butter.
4. Stir the batter and pour about 2 Tbsp. into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until the top is set and the underside is golden. Turn the crêpe over, using a spatula or your fingers (fingers work best here) and cook until the second side is lightly browned. Remove the crêpe to a piece of wax paper. Continue cooking the rest of the crêpes, buttering the pan and stirring the batter before starting each one. Stack the finished crêpes between sheets of wax paper.

Basic Savory

Prepare Basic Sweet Crêpes, above, omitting the sugar and increasing the salt to ½ tsp.

Overnight Apple Cinnamon French Toast

This makes a lot of French Toast, it would be perfect for a get together, or if you just want to make it for your family, halve the recipe and bake it in an 8” square pan.

¾ c. butter, melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 (21 oz) cans apple pie filling
20 slices white bread
6 eggs
1 ½ c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ c. maple syrup

1. Grease a 9X13 inch baking pan. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
2. Spread the sugar mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the apple pie filling evenly over the sugar mixture. Layer the bread slices on top of the filling, pressing down as you go. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla. Slowly pour this mixture over the bread, making sure that it is completely absorbed. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350°.
4. Place covered pan into the oven and back for 60 to 75 minutes. When done, remove from oven and turn on broiler. Remove foil and drizzle maple syrup on top of the egg topping; broil for 2 minutes, or until syrup begins to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes, and then cut into squares. Invert the pan onto a serving tray or baking sheet so the apple filling is on top. Serve hot.

Yield: 15 servings

Banana Crumb Muffins

The crumb topping is what makes these banana muffins stand apart from the ordinary.

1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3 bananas, mashed
¾ c. white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/8 c. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly grease 10 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes (22-25 for jumbo muffins), until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

Yield: 10 muffins (6 jumbo muffins)

Baked French Toast Casserole with Maple Syrup

This was served at one of the Gourmet Groups I attended. Delicious!

1 loaf French bread (13 to 16 ounces)
8 large eggs
2 c. half and half
1 c. milk
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash salt
Praline Topping, recipe follows
Maple Syrup

1. Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1” each. (Use any extra bread for garlic toast or bread crumbs). Arrange slice in a generously butter 9X13 inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices, slightly. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
2. The next day, preheat to 350°.
3. Spread praline topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:
½ pound (2 sticks) butter
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Makes enough for Bake French Toast Casserole.

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes

With all that free Sour Cream I got a couple of weeks ago, I'm having to learn how to use it. Here's a good way:

Blueberry Sour Cream Pancakes

½ c. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. cold water
4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

2 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 ½ c. milk
1 c. (8oz) sour cream
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

For topping, in a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Add blueberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; cover and keep warm.
For pancakes, combine dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs; stir in the milk, sour cream and butter. Stir into dry ingredients just until blended. Fold in blueberries.
Pour batter by ¼ cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes. Cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with blueberry topping.

Yield: about 20 pancakes