Strawberry Bruchetta

This is an old Pampered Chef recipe, and it is great for brunches or bite-sized dessert parties.

1 loaf thinly sliced french baguette

2 T melted butter

Place bread slices on cookie sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake at 350 until golden brown (about 5 min or so)

In a mixing bowl, combine the following:

4 oz cream cheese

1 Meyer lemon, zested and juiced

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In another bowl, slice or chop 1 lb washed and hulled strawberries.

In a non-stick skillet, lightly toast 1 small package blanched slivered almonds.

To assemble, place thin layer of cream cheese mixture on toasted bread, add strawberries, and sprinkle almonds. To garnish, grate white, milk, or dark chocolate over top and dust with powdered sugar.

Pancakes

This is from the book Deceptively Delicious, which I am really enjoying. The idea is that you add vegetable and fruit puree to everything so that your kids get some vitamins even if they are refusing to eat their vegetables. I'm not sure if its enough to really make a big difference, but its worth trying. You can always use baby food if you don't want to go to the trouble of making the purees. These are really yummy.

1 cup water
1/2 cup sweet potato puree
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup pancake mix

Mix the batter and cook the pancakes. Serve with whatever you like.

Cinnamon Burst Bread

I got this recipe from Everydayfoodstorage.net

I made some the other day and it didn't turn out too bad. I didn't have enough cinnamon chips though, so it could have been better. It is great to make french toast out of too!

(The picture of the bread is not what I made)!

3 T. yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs, beaten lightly
3 3/4 cup warm water
4 1/2 tsp. salt
3 T. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups cinnamon bites
11-12 cups flour (you can use white or wheat or a combination of both)

Combine in mixing bowl 4 cups flour, yeast, and sugar. Add water, eggs, and oil. Beat well to “cake batter” stage. Stir in salt, cinnamon bites, and 7 more cups flour to make bread-dough consistency. Let mixer knead it to the right texture (add up to 1 more cup flour if needed). Place dough in greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour. Shape dough into 4 loaves. Let rise for another hour or until doubled. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.

This recipe is similar to the one Heather posted, but different and still really good!

1/2, cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, use 1 cup regular milk + 1TBS lemon juice)
1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg whites (I use 1 egg instead of egg whites)
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1/ 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 /2 teaspoon baking soda

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, buttermilk, and milk. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to let the oatmeal soften.
Beat in the egg whites and oil and mix well- Add the sugar, salt, and cinnamon, then the baking powder, baking soda, and flour.
Stir just until moistened.
Heat a lightly oiled or nonstick griddle over medium-high heat (375 degrees for electric frying pan). Pour batter onto the griddle. Turn when the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked, Turn only once.

Oatmeal Pancakes

February is breakfast month, right? This is a recipe from Angela, and I LOVE it!

2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups buttermilk

Place in a bowl and mix together. Cover and leave on the counter at least 6 hours or overnight.

Add in:

4 beaten eggs

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

Stir together. Then add:

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Stir mixture well, then cook on hot griddle.

I like to serve with buttered maple syrup (place maple syrup in a small saucepan and add some butter and melt together on low heat), blueberries, chocolate chips, bananas, etc. I LOVE these pancakes!

Baked Apple French Toast

1 (16oz) large loaf of French bread or 2 small loves

8 eggs, lightly beaten

3 c. Milk

3/4 c sugar, divided

1 T. vanilla extract

2-3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 T butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 inch glass dish with vegetable oil spray.  Slice bread into 1 1/2 inch slices.  Place bread tightly together in one layer in dish.  Mix eggs, milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla.  Pour half of the liquid over the bread.  Place apple slices on top of the bread to cover.  Pour remaining egg mixture over the apples.  Mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the apples.  Dot with butter.  Bake for 35 minutes or cover and refrigerate overnight.  Bake the next morning for 50 minutes.

Baked Oatmeal

I know I have been posting with a vengeance but I have to catch up one way or another with all these yummy recipes. I have had to tweak my diet quite a bit since my gall bladder has decided to quit working. So some of these recipes I have found healthier ingredient options for. This is one of them and it still tastes JUST as good as the original. By the way, if none of you have ever tried baked oatmeal-- it is such a delicious way to eat your oatmeal. You just make it up the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight with saran wrap. Then get up in the morning, take the saran wrap off, set it in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. It will warm up as the oven warms up so it won't crack your dish. So I'll give you the original dish and the additional options on the side so you can take your pick.

Baked Oatmeal

2 1/4 c. quick cooking oats *use if you are making and baking right away
(or 2 3/4 c. old-fashioned oats) *use if you are making and baking in the morning
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar (1/3 c. brown sugar or 3 T. pure maple syrup)
1 t. baking powder
3/4 c. raisins (or cranberries)
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced (or peaches or strawberries or blueberries)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (I use 3/4 c.-- I like it crunchy!)
1-2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
3 1/3 c. skim milk (3 1/3 c. soy milk if you prefer)
1/2 c. butter (1 t. safflower or coconut oil w/ 1/2 c. applesauce)
4 egg whites (1 mashed banana)
1 t. vanilla extract
milk, yogurt, cream, sugar, and/or fruit for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8" square glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, raisins, apples, walnuts, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine milk, butter, egg whites, and vanilla and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

Pour into the baking dish and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes depending on what consistency you want to end up with. I like mine well set with a little crunch around the edges, but so it is still moist inside, just a tad over 50 minutes. Cool slightly.

Serve topped with milk or cream or sugar or yogurt and fruit, whatever you want. Store leftover oatmeal tightly covered in refrigerator.

Applesauce Muffins

1/2 c. applesauce
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 T. milk
1 c. raisins (optional)
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. allspice
1/2 t. nutmeg

Topping:
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1/2 c. brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine applesauce, sugar, oil, eggs, milk and raisins. Mix together and add dry ingredients. Stir with a spoon until well blended. Pour into greased muffin tin. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over batter. Bake t 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Apple Pancakes

From Captain Jefferds Inn (Kennebunkport, ME)
2 c. unbleached flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 T. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. ginger
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 t. ground cloves
1/2 t. mace
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. buttermilk
2 1/2 T/ bacon drippings or oil
1 1/2 c. tart apples, shredded, firmly packed
1 1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

Combine flour, sugar, and dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat eggs lightly and stir in oil and milk. Add flour mixture and blend just until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy. Stir in apples and pecans and let stand for 20 minutes. Stirring lightly, pour 1/4 c. batter onto a hot skillet. As bubbles appear on top, turn and brown on the other side.

Apple Pancake

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. apple slices

1 egg

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of nutmeg

In 9 inch pie plate melt butter. Put apple slices in pan. In bowl beat egg; add flour, milk, vanilla and nutmeg. Pour over apples. Bake 12 minutes at 425°. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Baked Apple Pancake

I got this recipe from Parenting Magazine and absolutely fell in LOVE with it. Just be careful with the hot skillet. I burn myself more often than I'm willing to admit.

3 medium tart apples, peeled and sliced

2 T lemon juice

½ tsp cinnamon

6 T powdered sugar

6 T butter, melted and cooled, divided

3 eggs

¼ tsp salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

½ tsp vanilla

Toss apple slices with lemon juice and then the cinnamon and powdered sugar. Heat a 10 inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add apples and 4 tablespoons butter. Cook on low-medium heat, stirring for 4 minutes, until tender

Beat eggs, salt, flour, milk and vanilla until smooth. Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons butter.

Spread apples evenly in skillet. Pour batter over the top. Bake about 20 minutes, until no moist spots are left in batter. Remove from oven and immediately flip over onto a large plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Apple Cinnamon Bread Braid

I would have taken a picture sooner, but this was all that was left by the time I pulled out the camera. I usually make cinnamon rolls for conference morning using my Aunt Sandy's french bread recipe (found here). This year, I made them but added a few twists.

The bread rises for nearly an hour while you stir it down a few times. During the stir down-times, I sprinkled in a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon sugar so that the dough would be really infused with that flavor once it was all the way risen. It makes the dough a little bit sticky, but when you roll it out onto the countertop with flour, it is just fine.

The other thing I did was take half the dough and turn it into a bread braid. Here's how:

1. Roll the dough out into a rectangle.

2. Spread a thin layer of butter onto the dough.

3. Spread a 1/4 inch layer of light brown sugar onto the dough, and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

4. Take a pizza cutter and cut 2 inch strips into the dough along the long ends of the rectangle, thus leaving about 4 1/2 inches of non-cut dough where you pile sliced apples.

5. After apples are piled along the middle of the rectangle, take the ends and "braid" them into each other. I folded the end into the apples, then took the strips and just criss-crossed them. At the end of the braid, tuck leftover dough back into the braid.

6. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Some of the brown sugar will leak out onto the cookie sheet, so make sure and use one with edges.

7. While it cools, drizzle cream cheese frosting all over it. Slice and serve.

It is freakishly delicious, and has been requested for next year and also for Christmas morning. I just love a good versatile bread recipe!

Whole Wheat Pancakes (No grinder, no problem!)

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat kernels
1 cup milk
Blend 1 minute in blender then add:
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Blend additional 4 minutes.

Notes from the girl in my ward who shared the recipe: If you have a VitaMix is needs way less time in the blender. Just for those who like to substitute items I have learned that applesauce instead of oil is not a good idea and if you are making the milk from dry powder you need to add more water or the batter ends up too thick. They are delicious and easy to freeze and reheat for a quick breakfast (I, Kalia, always like to just put the extra batter in the fridge and only cook what we'll eat, that way it's still fast the next time you make them, but they are perfectly fresh and not reheated, and even more flavorful actually!).

Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes

For those of you that know Melissa Frantz, I got this recipe from her. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing it with you. These are by far my favorite breakfast ever! And perfect for Valentine's Day. (I know, I'm a little late.)

Try these. You won't be sorry! (I usually double the pancake part because we eat so many)

Pancake Batter:

½ c milk
¼ c sugar
1 egg
2 TBSP unsalted melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ c small curd cottage cheese
1 tsp lemon zest minced

Whisk milk, sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla together in a large bowl. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl then add to the egg mixture until just incorporated.( it can be a little lumpy). Blend in cottage cheese and zest. Cook on the griddle on medium heat makes 8 pancakes

Candied Graham Crackers
Mix together:

4 TBSP unsalted butter (melted)
1 c graham crackers crushed (4-5 crackers)
2 TBSP sugar
½ t ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Sweetened Sour Cream
Whisk together 1 cup sour cream and a ¼
cup powdered sugar, then chill.

Fresh Strawberry Sauce
4 c fresh strawberries in halves
¼ c sugar
¼ c water
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp orange zest minced

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to boil reduce heat and simmer 7 minutes or until strawberries soften.

Layer pancakes, strawberries, sweet cream and crumbs for the most delicious breakfast ever!

Potato Pancakes

This is a really easy version. It makes a great breakfast or side dish.

1 T butter
3-5 potatoes, grated
chopped onion (optional)
1 egg
1/4-1/2 c pancake mix or flour
salt and pepper to taste
parsley to taste

Melt butter in a pan. Mix the ingredients until they form a batter. Spread a tablespoon of batter for each pancake and brown on both sides. Serve with butter, sour cream, or applesauce. I think you can do this with zucchini too, although I have never tried it.

Peanut Butter Cake

If you like peanut butter, you will like this. It's more of a snack cake than a dessert cake: not really rich. But addicting.

Peanut Butter Cake

Combine in a small bowl:
½ c flour
½ c brown sugar
¼ c peanut butter
2 T melted butter
Set aside.

Cream ½ c peanut butter and ¼ c shortening. Slowly beat in 1 cup brown sugar and 2 eggs.
Combine 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp baking soda. Mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with 1 cup milk to the peanut butter mixture, beating all the time.
Spread batter in a greased 9x13, and sprinkle with the crumbly mixture. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Drizzle with icing, if desired.

Blueberry Banana Scones

1 ¼ c flour
½ c whole wheat flour
¼ c sugar
1 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
¼ c butter
½ c yogurt
1/3 c mashed banana
½ c blueberries
1 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder and soda. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add yogurt and fruit, stir until moistened. Form dough into a ball. On a lightly greased cookie sheet, pat dough into a circle with floured hands. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Spread on the cookie sheet one inch apart. Bake 25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Praline Pumpkin Muffins

I made these muffins the other morning to use up my left-over canned pumpkin that has just been SITTING in my fridge. We had them for breakfast and they were so-so. Around 8 that night, I was having a sweet tooth craving so I tried another one. It was like trying a whole different muffin! It was a little piece of pumpkin heaven in my mouth! If you like pumpkin, TRY THESE!

Praline Topping:
3 T. butter, cut into pieces
1/3 c. flour
3 T. light brown sugar
1/3 c. finely chopped pecans

Muffin Batter:
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t. salt
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/3 c. unsulfured molasses
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. mini chocolate chips. optional

Directions:

Combine all the topping ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to rub them into a crumbly topping. Set it aside. Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease the bottoms only of 12 standard muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, molasses, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients just until the batter is blended. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and sprinkle on the praline topping.

Bake the muffins for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one come out clean. Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them.

Breakfast Casserole

I had a few requests to post my casserole from Keri's shower on here, so here's the recipe for those of you who enjoyed it, it's super easy!

10 beaten eggs
1 sm pkg of maple syrup flavored sausage (cook before adding to eggs and hashbrowns)
1/2 sm bag of squared hashbrowns

Mix all ingredients together, cover with tinfoil, cook on 350 for about 40 minutes in a greased 8x8 dish. After casserole is done, top with cheese and enjoy!

Stuffed French Toast with Apple Cider Syrup

I absolutely love this and would eat it for 3 meals a day...and dessert!

1 loaf unsliced French Bread
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 apples, cored, peeled, and sliced
8 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup maple syrup

Cut bread into cubes. In a greased 9X13 pan, spread half of the bread cubes on the bottom. Top with cream cheese cubes and apple slices, then remaining bread. In a blender, mix eggs, milk butter, and maple syrup until well combined. Pour evenly over top layer of bread. Use spatula to press bread down to moisten all layers. Cover and refrigerate over night. The next morning, bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Center should be set and edges slightly golden. Let stand10 minutes before serving with Apple Cider Syrup.

Apple Cider Syrup

Great of stuffed french toast, regular french toast, pancakes...anything really.

1 cup sugar
8 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups apple cider or juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp butter

In a saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Gradually add apple juice and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Cook 2 minutes more, remove from heat and stir in butter until it melts.