Sunday, September 9, 2007

Clone of a Cinnabon

I didn't really think of posting cinnamon rolls as breakfast, but since Catherine asked...here are the best cinnamon rolls ever! It calls for bread machine yeast, and bread flour, I just use regular flour and yeast and they turn out fabulous...

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, 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. 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 Apple Pancakes

So we just tried this tonight, and loved it! It's a Martha Stewart recipe, specifically a recipe that kids will like, that's why the directions are a little weird. We didn't top it with anything, but I'm sure fresh whipped cream would be delightful!


Ingredients:
2/3 cup flour
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut into pieces (about 1 pound)
3 eggs
1/4 cup, light brown sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar plus more for tin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

This recipe makes 6 pancakes.
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Melt 2 T. butter, brush melted butter inside each muffin cup; coat with granulated sugar.
2.An adult can peel, core,and slice each apple into twelve wedges, then cut each wedge into three pieces.Toss with brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat.Add the apples and saute, turning occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, until caramelized. Remove pan from stove; let cool 5 minutes. Divide the caramelized apples among the muffin cups.
4. Place flour, salt, granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 3 minutes.
5. Pour batter over apples. An adult should place tin in oven and lower heat to 400 degrees. Bake 15 minutes. Pancakes will puff up during last 5 minutes of baking.
6.Take tin from oven and turn it over on a flat surface to remove pancakes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.
One Giant Pancake: If you prefer, you can make a traditional large pancake to share instead of six individual ones. Follow the steps for the recipe, using an 8-cup apple pan or a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet or baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges become puffed and golden. An adult can run a knife along the edges of the pan and then, using potholders, turn out the finished pancake onto a serving platter, cut into wedges.

meat alternatives

i really like these vegetarian sausages by morningstar farms. i prefer the links, but they are both good. the patties are great for biscuits and gravy.



this recipe rocks. i love making it for overnight guests or for dinner. it sounds complicated, but is pretty easy. i don't always always use fresh orange juice, and it still turns out delicious. it turns out to kinda have a caramel sauce that you can spoon out and drizzle on it. love it.


Overnight Orange Pecan French Toast


INGREDIENTS
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup chopped pecans
12 (3/4 inch thick) slices French bread
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup 2% milk
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
2 eggs
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting


DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, and spread evenly. Sprinkle pecans over the sugar mixture. Arrange the bread slices in the bottom of the dish so they are in a snug single layer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange zest, orange juice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, egg whites, and eggs. Pour this mixture over the bread, pressing on the bread slices to help absorb the liquid. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Remove the cover from the baking dish, and let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

German Pancakes with Strawberries

These are delicious! Catherine, Josephine, and I once ate a double batch in one sitting. OK, now I'm embarrased and must add that there were a few of our kids there, too. A normal batch serves 4. Enjoy!

1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups fresh strawberries, halved
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
Maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400. Put butter in a 9-inch glass pie plate or casserole dish. Place in oven until butter melts and bubbles. While butter is melting put milk, flour, sugar, eggs, and salt into blender. Blend on medium until smooth. Remove pie plate from oven. Adjust heat to 450. Immediately pour mixture into pie plate and return to oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 8-10 minutes more or until edges are puffed and browned. Remove from oven.

In bowl, sprinkle strawberries with sugar. Spoon into center of hot pancake. Cut hot pancake into wedges. Serve topped with sour cream, brown sugar, and syrup.

**I know the "serve with sour cream" sounds weird, but TRY IT!

Lisa

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Peach French Toast

1 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 tbsp. water
2 (15 oz.) cans sliced peaches, drained
12 (3/4 inch thick) slices day-old French bread, cubed (if you only have fresh bread, cube it and then dry it out in a warm oven for a few minutes. This really helps to avoid soggy bread.)
6 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 pinch cinnamon
1 1/2 C. milk

In a saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, butter and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the brown sugar mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, and tilt the dish to cover the entire bottom. Place peaches in a layer over the sugar coating. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Dredge bread in milk and egg mixture, then put bread on top of peaches and pour remaining mixture over it. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove the dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking to come to room temp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and egg mixture isn't goopy anymore. Spoon out portions to serve.

This is very sweet, so you can cut the brown sugar, butter and water mixture in half and it still tastes great. This is great with tart apples, too.

Julia

Crispy Potato Quiche

Okay, YES, I have too much time on my hands. But I love sharing tried-and-true recipes, so here is yet another post from me (and it is SO GOOD):

30 oz. bag frozen shredded potatoes (thawed)
1/2 C. (or less) melted butter
1 C. shredded pepper jack cheese
2 C. shredded Swiss cheese
2 C. diced cooked ham
1 C. Half & Half
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. seasoning salt

Press thawed potatoes into a greased 9x13 pan. Pour melted butter over and bake at 425 for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and put cheese and ham on top. Pour beaten eggs, cream and seasoning salt over the top (do not mix in) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350.

Sometimes I cook the potato and butter part the night before and refrigerate it, and then add the cheese, ham, eggs, etc. on in the morning. I can't quite remember, but it might need to cook a little longer if you do that, since it's coming from a refrigerated state.

Julia

crEpEs!!

Okay, this is one of our favorite breakfasts. There is SO much you can do with a crepe. Actually Cat, maybe we should have a section devoted to crepes. Anyway, they can take some time to make because you have to do them one at a stinkin' time, but they freeze BEAUTIFULLY... so make a ton and freeze some for later!

1 C flour
1 1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1 tbs cooking oil (though, I don't always use any)
1/4 tsp salt
(when I am making a crepe for a sweeter meal, I'll also add a dash of vanilla and a tablespoon or two of sugar)

Combine all ingredients in bowl until blended. Heat skillet on med. high and melt butter to coat bottom of pan when ready to pour in batter. Remove pan from heat and pour in just enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan by tilting the skillet around. Pour in enough so that there are no holes or gaps in the crepe. It should just thinly cover the pan. Return pan to heat and flip when bottom side of crepe starts to brown.

Now, what to do with your crepe?

Our favorite thing to do (it may sound weird, but we LOVE it) is to lay the crepe on our plate, put a couple of tablespoons of cottage cheese down the center of it, and roll it up like a burrito. Then pour some hot maple syrup on top and ENJOY!

My husband's family likes to put their hot crepe flat on their plate, rub MORE butter all over it, then sprinkle powder sugar all over it and roll it up and eat it.

They are also good filled with fruits and jams.

TO FREEZE:
Lay crepes flat on wax paper. You can separate each one with paper, or save on the wax and separate by servings (3-5 crepes usually). Then lay flat in freezer. Easy to reheat in a microwave whenever you crave 'em!!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

new category for first half of september

now that things are starting to settle down a little, it is time for a new category. this time it is BREAKFAST/BRUNCH. this category will last for the first half of september, then it will switch again. so, get posting!