Recently I found a recipe that was meant to be a special Christmas morning recipe. I think it was Food Fanatic who posted it. Well, I have a vegetarian in the house so some changes needed to be made, so this is what I did.
Morning Casserole, Two Ways
10 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 package refrigerated biscuit dough --16-ounce size (I mean to try this with homemade biscuit dough soon...)
2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup grated sweet onion
6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup baco-bits
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8 x 8 glass pans.
In a good-sized bowl, place 5 eggs, 2 Tablespoons milk, 1 cup cheese, 1/4 cup grated onion (or less if you are not an onion fan), and stir well. Add half of the biscuits which have been cut into 1 -1 1/2 inch pieces and gently stir again. Add EITHER the crumbled bacon OR the baco-bits and stir well.
Place in oven and bake for about 25- 30 minutes.
Repeat in another bowl and add the other "meat".
This is really a tasty breakfast casserole.
Friday, January 9, 2015
Monday, December 15, 2014
Chocolate Morning Muffins
Chocolate Morning Muffins--very cake-like
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
2 cups all purpose flour--unbleached
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup real butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract--use the real thing
2 teaspoons white or cider vinegar
1 cup white chocolate chips
This recipe is a knock-off of King Arthur Flour's recipe called Chocolate Breakfast Muffins. I am sure their recipe is delicious, but I did not have all the ingredients in their recipe (i.e. baking soda!) so I did some internet research and made changes in the recipe. The changes worked, as judged by the fact that the muffins disappeared with alacrity this early morning!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a non-stick muffin tin very well.
Melt your butter in a glass 2-cup measure for about 20 seconds in the microwave and set aside. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cocoa mixing well. Toss in the chocolate chips and stir well. In a small bowl beat the eggs and milk until well homogenized. Stir the egg/milk mixture into the dry ingredients then pour in the melted butter and combine well.
Using a portion scoop, deposit the muffin batter into the greased muffin tin and cook for about 20 minutes, or until you think they are done. Remove pan from the oven and let pan sit on a rack for 5-10 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges of the muffins with a plastic knife and place the muffins on the rack to cool completely.
Makes about a dozen muffins.
Things I did: I put the first batch of batter into a "muffin-top" pan, since I really only like the muffin tops. This was not as successful as one might hope. I think I should have used non-stick spray instead of butter for greasing the pan, and have left out the chocolate chips. The chips stuck to the pan making removal of the tops very difficult. When I used the spray in a regular muffin tin, and let them sit for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan, they did not adhere to the pan implacably.
Used the black portion scoop--one-quarter cup/number 16 scoop.
2/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa
2 cups all purpose flour--unbleached
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup real butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract--use the real thing
2 teaspoons white or cider vinegar
1 cup white chocolate chips
This recipe is a knock-off of King Arthur Flour's recipe called Chocolate Breakfast Muffins. I am sure their recipe is delicious, but I did not have all the ingredients in their recipe (i.e. baking soda!) so I did some internet research and made changes in the recipe. The changes worked, as judged by the fact that the muffins disappeared with alacrity this early morning!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a non-stick muffin tin very well.
Melt your butter in a glass 2-cup measure for about 20 seconds in the microwave and set aside. In a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cocoa mixing well. Toss in the chocolate chips and stir well. In a small bowl beat the eggs and milk until well homogenized. Stir the egg/milk mixture into the dry ingredients then pour in the melted butter and combine well.
Using a portion scoop, deposit the muffin batter into the greased muffin tin and cook for about 20 minutes, or until you think they are done. Remove pan from the oven and let pan sit on a rack for 5-10 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges of the muffins with a plastic knife and place the muffins on the rack to cool completely.
Makes about a dozen muffins.
Things I did: I put the first batch of batter into a "muffin-top" pan, since I really only like the muffin tops. This was not as successful as one might hope. I think I should have used non-stick spray instead of butter for greasing the pan, and have left out the chocolate chips. The chips stuck to the pan making removal of the tops very difficult. When I used the spray in a regular muffin tin, and let them sit for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan, they did not adhere to the pan implacably.
Used the black portion scoop--one-quarter cup/number 16 scoop.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Pitiful, though sort of cute, Turkeys
There are images of the cutest little Oreo turkey place-settings all over Pinterest and other places on the internet. I decided to try them again this year after a couple of years' time off. This is what they are:
Oreo cookies with the extra stuffing
Oreo cookies, regular, taken apart
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, miniature
Whoppers, miniature
Royal icing
This is how mine turned out:
These may be better than the last ones I made, but it is a close call on that.
If the kids eat them, I will make an addendum to this post...
Oreo cookies with the extra stuffing
Oreo cookies, regular, taken apart
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, miniature
Whoppers, miniature
Royal icing
This is how mine turned out:
These may be better than the last ones I made, but it is a close call on that.
If the kids eat them, I will make an addendum to this post...
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Strawberry (or Raspberry!) Danish Braid-Sort of
A quick, easy, and enjoyed by all, breakfast treat is this strawberry danish-like braid.
Originally I saw the recipe at Lauren's Latest to be used with apples and cinnamon. On the night I was going to make it for the next morning I did not have life enough to do the apple part, especially since I knew I had some delicious strawberry freezer jam in the refrigerator. The early morning eaters left not a crumb for me to see when I got back from swimming. (I just made that up--about the swimming--I do go swimming some mornings at 5 but do not really remember if I did that day. I could easily have been upstairs knitting, but more likely I was slug-abed...)
The way I made this treat:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Use one can crescent roll dough and roll it out carefully on a parchment-paper-lined half sheet pan. Pinch all the seams together. The dough should nearly fill the length of the half sheet pan.
Mix together 8 ounces softened real cream cheese, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. (I have discovered at this late date that real ingredients make food taste better, so...we now only choose pure vanilla extract. I might even try making some one day soon.)
Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut DIAGONAL strips along both sides of the crescent roll dough at about 1/2-inch intervals about one-third of the way through. Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center 2-3 inches of the dough. Spread about 1/2 cup soft strawberry jam on top of the cream cheese mixture then fold up the cut dough "fingers" to make a braid-like top. Try to have them cover most of the filling.
Place sheet in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set. Cool about 30 minutes before removing the pastry from the pan, if you plan to move it onto a pretty platter. My suggestion is that there is nothing wrong with leaving it on the cooking pan.
Mix together 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with 3-4 Tablespoons milk or cream or even water to make the glaze. Adding a bit of flavoring like vanilla or almond or berry extract can give a nice little touch of flavor to the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the completely cooled braid then cut however you desire and serve.
If you want any, you should probably set aside a small piece early on...!
Originally I saw the recipe at Lauren's Latest to be used with apples and cinnamon. On the night I was going to make it for the next morning I did not have life enough to do the apple part, especially since I knew I had some delicious strawberry freezer jam in the refrigerator. The early morning eaters left not a crumb for me to see when I got back from swimming. (I just made that up--about the swimming--I do go swimming some mornings at 5 but do not really remember if I did that day. I could easily have been upstairs knitting, but more likely I was slug-abed...)
The way I made this treat:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Use one can crescent roll dough and roll it out carefully on a parchment-paper-lined half sheet pan. Pinch all the seams together. The dough should nearly fill the length of the half sheet pan.
Mix together 8 ounces softened real cream cheese, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. (I have discovered at this late date that real ingredients make food taste better, so...we now only choose pure vanilla extract. I might even try making some one day soon.)
Using sharp kitchen scissors, cut DIAGONAL strips along both sides of the crescent roll dough at about 1/2-inch intervals about one-third of the way through. Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center 2-3 inches of the dough. Spread about 1/2 cup soft strawberry jam on top of the cream cheese mixture then fold up the cut dough "fingers" to make a braid-like top. Try to have them cover most of the filling.
 |
| Notice that the "fingers" were NOT cut on the diagonal and did not reach over the dough. It will still be very edible! |
Place sheet in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the filling is set. Cool about 30 minutes before removing the pastry from the pan, if you plan to move it onto a pretty platter. My suggestion is that there is nothing wrong with leaving it on the cooking pan.
Mix together 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with 3-4 Tablespoons milk or cream or even water to make the glaze. Adding a bit of flavoring like vanilla or almond or berry extract can give a nice little touch of flavor to the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the completely cooled braid then cut however you desire and serve.
If you want any, you should probably set aside a small piece early on...!
Monday, September 22, 2014
Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
Somehow I found a recipe for Ree Drummond's Strawberry Oatmeal Bars. I did not have any strawberry jam so I made raspberry bars. They were REALLY GOOD and went down well with all the kids as well as Dear One.
Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
1 3/4 sticks melted butter (USE BUTTER!)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10-12 ounces raspberry jam, preferably seedless!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan very well.
Mix together the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a 3-quart mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until completely mixed then press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the greased pan. Spread the raspberry jam carefully and evenly over the top of the pressed crumbs. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture over the top of the jam and gently press down so the crumbs make good contact with the jam.
Bake until lightly browned, 30-40 minutes. Check often after 30 minutes. Burned jam is rather nasty. When COMPLETELY COOL, cut into small squares and stand back! They are likely to be consumed within moments...
Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
1 3/4 sticks melted butter (USE BUTTER!)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10-12 ounces raspberry jam, preferably seedless!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan very well.
Mix together the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter in a 3-quart mixing bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until completely mixed then press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the greased pan. Spread the raspberry jam carefully and evenly over the top of the pressed crumbs. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture over the top of the jam and gently press down so the crumbs make good contact with the jam.
Bake until lightly browned, 30-40 minutes. Check often after 30 minutes. Burned jam is rather nasty. When COMPLETELY COOL, cut into small squares and stand back! They are likely to be consumed within moments...
Monday, September 15, 2014
Blueberry Orange Bread
Blueberry Orange Bread
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup orange juice
4 teaspoons orange rind, zested
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup blueberries--either fresh or frozen will work
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes in a loaf pan.
This is the recipe that Martha M. gave me at a women's event last week. She assured me that we would love this bread. She also said that it goes down very well with vanilla ice cream! After making it, I am sure this is true but is somewhat gilding the lily.
The only change I made in the recipe is that I doubled it, and also doubled the amount of butter, so 4 Tablespoons of butter per loaf of bread. Because I like loaves of quick breads that are rather higher than flatter, I baked the bread in buttered 8" by 4" pans (8 1/2" by 4 1/2"?) instead of the 9" by 5" pan. They needed an extra five or six minutes in the oven which I ascertained by checking them with a toothpick after 45 minutes. Since the toothpick did not come out clean, I left it to bake a little longer.
This bread totally disappeared from the table, a little more than one loaf>>>GONE! That makes me happy.
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup orange juice
4 teaspoons orange rind, zested
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup blueberries--either fresh or frozen will work
Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes in a loaf pan.
This is the recipe that Martha M. gave me at a women's event last week. She assured me that we would love this bread. She also said that it goes down very well with vanilla ice cream! After making it, I am sure this is true but is somewhat gilding the lily.
The only change I made in the recipe is that I doubled it, and also doubled the amount of butter, so 4 Tablespoons of butter per loaf of bread. Because I like loaves of quick breads that are rather higher than flatter, I baked the bread in buttered 8" by 4" pans (8 1/2" by 4 1/2"?) instead of the 9" by 5" pan. They needed an extra five or six minutes in the oven which I ascertained by checking them with a toothpick after 45 minutes. Since the toothpick did not come out clean, I left it to bake a little longer.
This bread totally disappeared from the table, a little more than one loaf>>>GONE! That makes me happy.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Fresh Fruit, Chopped!
Whenever I ask Dear One for a suggestion, I should be prepared to accept his suggestion... This time I did it. He suggested fruit cup. This was very easy. I even learned about using Fruit Fresh to keep the fruit from browning prior to ingestion!
1 peach
1 nectarine
3 apples
2 bananas
one half cup red raspberies
1 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, undrained
After washing the peach, nectarine, and apples, I peeled the peach then removed the pit and chopped in rather finely. The apples were cored and chopped and the nectarine was pitted and chopped. The bananas were skinned and cut in half lengthwise then sliced crosswise. They were all soaked in Fruit Fresh for fifteen or twenty minute. After draining, these fruits were put in a jar and covered and refrigerated overnight with some trepidation as I did not know if they truly would not turn brown. In the morning they were NOT brown so they were put into a large bowl and the mandarin oranges and raspberries were added and gently stirred just enough to disperse the red and orange fruit to make the dish look nice. They were then put into a beautiful cut-glass serving bowl and put out with cups and spoons for serving.
Nearly all the fruit was consumed. Success.
1 peach
1 nectarine
3 apples
2 bananas
one half cup red raspberies
1 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, undrained
After washing the peach, nectarine, and apples, I peeled the peach then removed the pit and chopped in rather finely. The apples were cored and chopped and the nectarine was pitted and chopped. The bananas were skinned and cut in half lengthwise then sliced crosswise. They were all soaked in Fruit Fresh for fifteen or twenty minute. After draining, these fruits were put in a jar and covered and refrigerated overnight with some trepidation as I did not know if they truly would not turn brown. In the morning they were NOT brown so they were put into a large bowl and the mandarin oranges and raspberries were added and gently stirred just enough to disperse the red and orange fruit to make the dish look nice. They were then put into a beautiful cut-glass serving bowl and put out with cups and spoons for serving.
Nearly all the fruit was consumed. Success.
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