I’ve made these twice now, and was more pleased with the second batch.  The first time I used only 1/2 cup of pecans, and this time I just covered the bottom of my dish and probably used close to a full cup.  It was great to have the extra sugary coated guys to snack on from the pan.  Feel free to use less or you could use walnuts.  I used vanilla pudding the first time, and butterscotch the last time.  Both were good, so use what you like.

A 9×13 pan is fine for these, but I used a smaller baking dish, 10×10, this last time.  A smaller area meant more gooey goodness which is never a bad thing in my opinion.  I only used 12 rolls for the smaller pan.  If I do these again in a 9×13 I would add a little more butter and sugar.  Because if you’re already going to eat these, what’s wrong with a little more fat and calories?  Enjoy!

Gooey Pecan Breakfast Rolls

Ingredients

• 1/2-1 cup pecans, chopped
• 18 frozen dinner rolls
• 1 small box (3.5 ounces) Cook and Serve pudding
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Thanks to Ina Garten, one of my favorite Food Network people, for this recipe.  Her recipe calls for sour cream, which I did not have.  I substituted 3/4 cup of buttermilk and 1/3 cup softened butter.  I think it would have been fine to use 1 cup of buttermilk without the additional butter.

This cake can be eaten for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or for breakfast.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Peach Cake

Courtesy of Ina Garten, foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup of softened butter
• 1 cup + 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large can of peaches, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup pecans

This past Saturday I was up first and managed to throw together these muffins for breakfast.  They came together so quickly!  Buttermilk makes these muffins wonderfully moist.  The berries provide a burst of tart sweetness.  A little sprinkle of raw sugar gives a nice crunch without the extra work of making a streusel.  Yes, I am too lazy to make a simple steusel.

I used a combination of fresh raspberries and blueberries, about a cup of each.  Blackberries would also be delicious.  This recipe comes from The Joy of Baking.  Enjoy!

Buttermilk Berry Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups fresh berries
• 1/4 cup raw/turbinado sugar

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I’ve made another overnight French toast before, and it was much sweeter than this one, but not in a bad way…just different.  They’re different enough that I can’t choose which one I liked better.  The lemon adds a nice tartness to the slight sweetness of this one that doesn’t require any syrup, so the berries are a perfect accompaniment.  The other French toast is one that welcomes a generous pour of syrup and a side of crisp bacon.  Don’t ask me why sugar goes best with more sugar.  It just does.  Both are tasty and can be prepped the night before and baked in the morning.  I love that.

The recipe called for brioche, but my rather poor choice of buying groceries at Wal Mart meant that we had to use a loaf of French bread.  It is French toast though, and we found it to be a great bread to use in this recipe.  The brioche would probably have yielded a denser and more rich breakfast.

We served the French toast with fresh blueberries and raspberries.  The original recipe (found here) from the kitchn has a lovely sounding mixture for the berries of dry cava wine and mint, but we played it simple.  We also decided not to dust the French toast with powdered sugar because of the sweet lemon glaze.  It was plenty sweet for me, but serve some on the side if you have a sweet tooth.  Enjoy!

Lemon Glazed French Toast

(courtesy of thekitchn)

Ingredients

• One 16 to 20-ounce loaf of French bread (brioche or challah)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions

1. If planning to bake immediately, preheat the oven to 425éF. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
2. Slice the bread into 1/2-inch-thick slices, then cut each slice in half. Arrange half of the bread in overlapping layers in the baking dish.
3. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until well mixed, then whisk in the brown sugar. Whisk in the milk, vanilla, salt, and nutmeg. Pour half of the custard over the bread. Layer the rest of the bread on top, and pour the rest of the custard over to coat. (At this point the casserole can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)
4. When ready to bake, take the casserole out of the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before baking. Heat the oven to 425°F. Bake the casserole for 30 minutes, or until slightly golden on top, and puffy.
5. Whisk the lemon juice with the confectioners’ sugar and drizzle the glaze over the hot casserole.
6. Let the casserole cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve in large slices, with fresh berries on the side.

Here are the changes I made; I used 2% instead of whole milk and I sprinkled the top with granulated sugar instead of the turbinado.  This is a dense, slightly sweet bread that is bursting with tart cranberries.  The top of the bread comes out of the oven crunchy and delicious.  After a day wrapped in foil, however, the top became a little gooey.  It remains delicious, especially when toasted.

This bread is easy to make and isn’t too sweet to serve for breakfast, unlike some quick breads.  Almonds or pecans would be yummy in this bread.  Enjoy!Cranberry Bread

Courtesy of Martha Stewart.com

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; grease and sugar a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (8-cup capacity), and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk.
4. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, and whisk to combine; fold in cranberries.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if desired.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
7. Transfer pan to a wire rack; let bread cool 30 minutes. Invert onto rack, then immediately turn right side up to cool completely.

I had some blackened bananas that needed to be put to good use, and fast.  So I decided to try them in these muffins instead of the firmer chopped banana I’d used the first time.  Here are the other changes I made.

• Added 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients
• Used skim milk (mixed with lemon juice) instead of buttermilk
• Used half whole wheat and half AP flour
• Used half golden raisins and half regular raisins
• Substituted pecans for the walnuts
• Used the orange zest

The result was yet another yummy bran muffin.  They do not photograph well though, so I used this photo courtesy of foodtv.com.  I liked the subtle flavor of the orange zest.  I definitely like the pecans better than walnuts…but that’s just a personal preference.  The texture was a bit heartier with the wheat flour.  The skim milk might have made the texture or moistness of the muffins a bit different, but not to a degree that I really noticed.  The combination of golden and regular raisins is nice, but not necessary.  I had some extra golden ones left over, so I used them.  I wouldn’t buy them just for these muffins as the plain raisins are great.

You can change a lot of things in these muffins to make them your own.  I would not leave out the banana though since I am sure that gives some necessary moisture.  Next time I might use cranberries instead of raisins.  I think that would be nice with the orange flavor, which I might bump up more by using more zest and some orange juice.  If you think of or try anything else, let me know.  Enjoy!

Banana Bran Muffins

Adapted from Chunky Banana Muffins by Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup golden raisins
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper liners into 1 (10 or 12-cup) muffin tin.
2. Combine the bran and buttermilk and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, 1 at a time. Scrape the bowl and then add the molasses, orange zest, and vanilla. (The mixture will look curdled.) Add the bran/buttermilk mixture and combine.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the batter just until combined. Don’t overmix it!
5. Fold in the raisins, bananas and walnuts with a rubber spatula.
6. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the muffin cups to the top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

I found the recipe on Group Recipes, but used melted butter instead of the oil originally called for in the recipe. Here is the link to the original recipe. The oil would probably make them more moist, so I might try that the next time I make these…and there will be a next time.

These are great when enjoyed warm, but also great at room temperature.  I warmed mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds each morning as I enjoyed them all week.  That’s just one of those things you must deal with while living with only one other person, leftovers always last a long time.  Sometimes this is a good thing, like with these muffins.  Other times I wish I had more people to eat the last couple servings of a dish.  Our family is growing, but Baby won’t be enjoying these muffins for a while!

Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon shopping list
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup, 1 stick, melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Mix first 5 ingredients together, then add egg, milk and butter.
2. Mix until almost blended, adding pecans. Do not over mix batter.
3. Fill greased and sugared muffin pans two-thirds full.
4. Bake muffins at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

This is a beautiful book with lovely photos of every single recipe.  After making these muffins I have a newly rekindled love for this book and for Martha.  I need to take a break from online recipes and get back to my huge collection of cookbooks.  Why have them if I’m not going to use them?  You might know what I’m talking about if you have at least 30 cookbooks, many of which are just sittin’ pretty on a bookshelf, and yet you find yourself searching on the internet when you want to make something.  What a shame!  Let’s get back to loving our cookbooks.

Every recipe in this cookbook is great.  The cinnamon raisin bread is especially delicious and I’ve made it more than just a few times.  It was the first yeast bread I tried that worked!  It has a great cinnamon swirl and lots of juicy raisins.  I am making myself crave it right now, so I might have to go make a loaf or two…

The blueberry muffins were easy to prepare and made my house smell delicious while they baked.  The generous amount of blueberries guarantees at least a few juicy berries in every bite.  I ate these at room temperature and also halved and toasted with a nice spread of butter.  Either way they are wonderful.  Watch the muffins after about 20 minutes, because mine were done after 25.  I did not sprinkle the sugar/nutmeg mixture on the muffins, but think they would be extra yummy with the nice crunch.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Generously grease and flour a standard 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Working over the bowl, toss blueberries in a fine sieve with about 1 1/2 teaspoons flour mixture to lightly coat; set aside the flour mixture and the blueberries.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Mix in vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add reserved flour mixture, beating until just combined.
6. Add milk, beating until just combined. Do not overmix.
7. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the blueberries.
8. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.
9. If desired, in a small bowl, mix together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of muffin batter.
10. Bake, rotating pan halfway though, until muffins are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes.
11. Remove from pan and let cool.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

If these are not what you think of when you think of Swedish pancakes, well, I’m sorry!  These are more crepe-like than American pancakes, and much better…in my opinion.  They don’t fill you up to the point that they sit in the pit of your stomach for hours after breakfast.  There is no right way to eat these light and delicious pancakes, but I will recommend a few things that have never let me down.

Toppings:

• Butter
• Maple syrup
• Nutella spread
• Powdered sugar
• Fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, etc.)

Serving and Prep:

• Spray your skillet lightly with oil every 2nd or 3rd pancake.
• Keep heat at medium.
• Serve ASAP for best and tastiest results!
• If you can’t serve them as you make them, keep pancakes warm in a 200°F oven in a pie plate, covered with foil.

To Eat:

• Spread butter down the center of the pancake, then drizzle some syrup if desired.
• Take the tines of your fork and grab the edge of the pancake, then roll your fork towards the other end of the pancake to make a nice rolled pancake. (See step-by-step photos below)
• Top the rolled pancake with more syrup, a sprinkle of powdered sugar and fruit.  Enjoy!

Swedish Pancakes

Ingredients

Directions

1. Beat all ingredients until smooth.
2. Spread thinly in greased skillet.  (A 1/4 cup measure is a good measurement for a 9-inch skillet.)
3. Cook until small bubbles appear on pancake, flip and cook other side for 30 seconds.
4. Serve with butter and syrup, jam, or berries. Then roll, and dust with powdered sugar.

Breakfast.  The most important meal of the day.  It also happens to be the most boring meal of the day for me most of the time.  I am not organized enough, and I don’t get up early enough to fix anything more exciting than a bowl of cereal and some fruit.  Every now and then I have enough time to scramble a few eggs, but that is rare.  So, when I have an opportunity to make something good for breakfast I make the most of it.

This weekend our great friends Carrie and Jason came up to visit.  We had such a nice and relaxing time together.  Sunday morning we had French toast casserole and migas for breakfast.  It was quite a delicious feast and something I plan to make again when we have guests.

The French toast is prepared the night before and allowed to sit in the fridge overnight to let the bread soak up the sugar, butter, eggs and milk.  I was pretty exhausted the night I was supposed to make the French toast and I almost felt like skipping it and just going to bed, but it took me less than 15 minutes to put it all together and pop it in the fridge so don’t let time be your excuse not to make this.

This breakfast is so very simple and easy.  In the bottom of a 9×13 pan goes a mixture of butter, brown sugar and corn syrup that has been melted together on the stove. The thick slices of French bread are placed atop this sugary sticky goodness, and the mixture of eggs, milk and vanilla is poured on top of everything.  Cover this in foil and go to bed.  When you wake up bake the dish for 45 minutes and voilà.  Breakfast.

The tops of the bread slices are golden brown as they come out of the oven.  The inside of each slice is creamy and delicious.  The bottom of each slice is covered in the rich buttery sugar sauce that has caramelized and become something very special thanks to its time in the oven.  So delicious.  Next time I will add some ground cinnamon and nutmeg to the milk mixture.  I served it with butter and syrup, and my husband had the ingenious idea of putting the sliced strawberries we had at the table on his slice.  Any kind of fruit or berry would be a good complement to this sweet, rich and crazy good French toast.  Make this some Saturday morning and make your breakfast guests very, very happy.

Overnight French Toast

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, sliced
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Combine the corn syrup , butter, and brown sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until the sugar has melted. Pour this mixture over the bottom of a greased 9×13 inch casserole dish.
2. Place the bread slices over the sugar-butter mixture in the dish. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt; pour this mixture over the bread. Cover the dish and let it stand in the refrigerator overnight.
3. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Uncover the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Serve while hot or warm or the French toast will harden in the pan. It can be reheated.