I don’t know why I haven’t tried these until now.  My mother-in-law made them a few weeks ago, and I was inspired to try them myself.  I made them in mini muffin cups instead of the regular size so that I would have more tasty treats.  I had leftover batter after filling the 24 cups, so I used a madeleine pan for the rest…they didn’t look that great t, but they tasted good.

Since I was using a smaller pan, I reduced the baking time to 15 minutes.  Other than that everything is the same as Pioneer Woman’s recipe.  Why mess with a good thing?  While these are a bit messy to prepare, they are worth it.  Any puffs left over can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days.  They don’t taste quite as good as fresh, but they will still satisfy your sweet tooth.

Bake the muffins, then take the warm muffins one by one…this is where the magic happens…

Dip the warm muffin into your melted butter, then drop them into your sugary, cinnamon-y goodness and coat them well.

Transfer the coated muffin to a cooling rack.  Place a piece of foil or wax paper underneath to catch any stray sugar.

French Breakfast Puffs

Ingredients

• 3 cups Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• ½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• 1 cup Sugar
• ⅔ cups Shortening (Crisco)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 sticks Butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or 24 mini muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
3. In a different bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.
4. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
5. In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

I pulled out 3 bananas from my stash and made these muffins earlier this week.  The recipe is from allrecipes.com.  Here is the link.

To the original recipe I added a cup of caramel pieces and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  I lowered the oven temperature from 400 F to 375 F.  My batch of muffin batter made more than enough for 12 muffins.  I was able to make an additional 8 mini muffins, so maybe 16 regular sized muffins total.  Everything else is just as it is in the original recipe.

The oats add a nice texture, and the caramel pieces bring in some extra delicious sweetness.  Some of the caramel pieces sunk to the bottom of the muffins, so some of them were hard to remove from the pan.  Be sure to grease your pan and paper well!  These muffins are OK at room temperature, but I recommend warming them in the microwave or toaster oven.

Caramel Banana Oat Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 cup caramel pieces

Directions

1. Combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg lightly. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla, then mix in the sugar.
3. Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined.
4. Fold in caramel pieces.
5. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper bake cups, spray with cooking spray, and divide the batter among them.  You may have extra batter to make a few more muffins.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 18 to 20 minutes.

I’ve tried a few variations on the basic cinnamon bread.

1. butterscotch pudding with toffee bits
2. butterscotch pudding with toffee bits and vanilla chips
3. vanilla pudding with pecans
4. chocolate pudding with white chocolate chips

These cookies I made last week inspired my latest bread experiment.  Seeing as how I had dried cherries, almonds and coconut on hand it only seemed natural to give these ingredients a chance in the bread.  I made one loaf plain with vanilla pudding and cinnamon, and to the remaining batter I added the cherries, almonds and coconut; about a handful of each.  What am I doing?  No measuring?  I think I’m turning in to Rachel Ray!  Before you know it I am going to be writing EVOO in my posts and giving all my posts super cutesy names!  OK, OK.  I will not turn in to Rachel Ray.  I will tell you that the amounts were about 3/4 cup each.  Give or take…

If you have friendship bread starter, then just add 3/4 cup each cherries, sliced almonds and sweetened shredded coconut.  If you do NOT have starter, then you can try to make your own using the following recipe from allrecipes.com.  After you make the starter you can make the bread!  The recipe I have been using is at the bottom of this post.  One of the best parts about this bread is the cinnamon sugar coated pans.  It gives such a wonderful, crunchy exterior.  I used some Sugar in the Raw on top of my loaves and it was incredibly good.  Perfect crunchy sweetness.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 cups white sugar, divided
• 3 cups milk

Directions

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.
2. On days 2 thru 4; stir starter with a spoon. Day 5; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Days 6 thru 9; stir only.
3. Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, give 2 cups to friends along with this recipe, and your favorite Amish Bread recipe. Store the remaining 1 cup starter in a container in the refrigerator, or begin the 10 day process over again (beginning with step 2).

Amish Friendship Bread

Starter:

Do not use a metal bowl or spoon.

Do not refrigerate.

The mix will rise, bubble and ferment.  So, “burp” the bag as needed.

Day 1: Do nothing

Day 2: Mush the bag.

Day 3: Mush

Day 4: Mush

Day 5: Mush

Day 6: Add to the bag: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk.  Mush together in the bag.

Day 7: Mush

Day 8: Mush

Day 9: Mush

Day 10: Follow the instructions below.

1.            Pour entire contents of the bag into a large non-metal bowl.

2.            Add 1 ½ cups each flour, sugar and milk.  Mix together well.

3.            Measure 1 cup of batter into each of 4 gallon size bags and give to friends, along with a copy of this recipe.  Put the date on the bag to help keep track!

4.            Preheat the oven to 325.

5.            To the remaining batter add:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 large box instant pudding (vanilla or any flavor)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

6.            Grease 2 loaf pans and dust with sugar or a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

7.            Divide the batter evenly between the pans.  Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar if desired.

8.            Bake for 1 hour, cool for 15 minutes then remove from pans to cool completely on wire racks.

* Keep a bag of starter for yourself if you want to make more bread.

I found these donuts to be very simple and delicious.  The texture was delicate and sweet.  I liked the coating of cinnamon sugar and the contrast of soft donut to crunchy sugar.  The slight nutmeg flavor is perfect.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com and I followed it word for word.  Well, I guess I refrigerated the dough for more than an hour.  It was more like 2 hours.  But I don’t consider that a modification.  I consider it more like bad planning.  With the good results I got with the increased chilling, you could probably make the dough the night before and use it in the morning.  I love things you can make ahead of time.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake Donuts

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 quarts oil for deep frying
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup white sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oil in a deep heavy skillet or deep-fryer to 370 degrees F (185 degrees C).
4. On a floured board, roll chilled dough out to ½  inch thickness. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut out doughnuts. Use a smaller cutter to cut holes from center.
5. Fry doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown, turning once. Remove from oil to drain on paper plates.
6. Combine the remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup sugar in a large re-sealable bag. Place a few warm donuts into the bag at a time, seal and shake to coat.  Enjoy with a nice cup of coffee.

There is a freezer bag with 18 bananas in my freezer.  I was about to place 6 more soft, blackened beauties in there today when I thought, “This is silly.  Why don’t I just bake some crazy delicious banana bread?”  My favorite banana bread has coconut and pecans.  It is so very decadent.  Almost dessert like.  You should definitely try it.  Seriously.

This banana bread also contains coconut, but with the addition of buttery macadamia nuts and sweet pineapple this banana bread becomes…Hawaiian banana bread!  I love the way that it has made my house smell during its hour long baking time.  I adapted a recipe from epicurean.com to create this bread.  The amounts of the ingredients are the same, I just made some substitutions: walnuts replaced by macadamias, a cup of all purpose flour traded in for a cup of whole wheat, and I added a cup of shredded coconut.

I love banana bread sliced and eaten plain, but banana bread sliced, buttered and broiled is tremendously delicious.  The contrast of the crunchy top and soft interior is lovely.  Try it both ways and let me know what you think.

I found a great way to mash my bananas when I made this bread.  Turns out that a potato masher is a great way to mash your bananas to a perfect smooth consistency.  I love finding new ways to use things in my kitchen!

The combination of flavors in this bread is great.  Sweet pineapple, mellow coconut, buttery macadamias all mixing with delicious banana.  Feel free to change the macadamias to any nut you like, but I think they make this bread a bit different than other banana breads.

Hawaiian Banana Bread

Adapted from epicurean.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup macadamia nuts – chopped
• 3 eggs – beaten
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups mashed bananas – (about 5)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 can crushed pineapple – (8 oz)—drained
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and pineapple; mix well.
3. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in macadamias and coconut.
4. Spoon batter into 2 greased and sugared 8×4″ loaf pans.
5. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees F. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pans.

Back to the huge zucchini.  I really wish I’d weighed this monster before using it yesterday.  Just use this picture as proof…it was a big vegetable.

Ginger was scared of it.  I took it out of the fridge and when I turned around she saw it and tucked her tail in between her legs and ran out of the kitchen.  Strange.

This recipe is from Paula Deen, which explains the odd mixing techniques and large amounts of sugar, oil, and eggs.  The ingredients were simple.  I resisted the urge to add pineapple or chocolate chips.  I’m glad that I did because I enjoyed the simple flavor of the zucchini and the rich pecans.  Sometimes simple can be perfect.

I sugared the pans after greasing them, a new favorite trick that gives the bread a nice crunchy, sweet exterior.  I had mixed up some cinnamon sugar for the rice pudding last week, so I used the cinnamon sugar in one of the pans, so that loaf was a little extra special.

The memories of the Amish bread catastrophe made my palms get all sweaty when it came time to remove the bread from the pans.  Hooray!  Only one little corner of the bread remained this time.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, greased and sugared, for 50-60 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

I decided to add butterscotch chips and sliced almonds to the basic bread recipe.  I figured this combination would either be pretty tasty or pretty weird and nasty.  It turned out to taste pretty good, but it did not turn out to look pretty good.  In fact, this bread did not turn out at all!  Half of each of the loaves stuck to the bottom of the pans.

I greased and sugared them both thoroughly, but the butterscotch chips sunk to the bottom and created a sticky mass that was more powerful than my anti-sticking agent.  We all have bad days in the kitchen, and this was one of mine.

Almond Butterscotch Friendship Bread

1.  Make the starter

2.  10 days later…make your bread

3.  Place the 1 or 2 cups of batter you removed to make your bread in a mixing bowl. Add the following and mix well:

• 1 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

4.  Pour mixture into 2 greased and sugared loaf pans. Bake at 325°F for 1 hour or until knife inserted comes clean. Cool for at least 10 minutes and remove from pans.