Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These are the most delicious light and airy banana muffins.  Don't skip out on the mini chips or the sour cream.  Both of these totally make the muffin.  You can easily swap out the olive oil for another light oil as well as the sour cream for greek yogurt or a non dairy option if necessary.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips plus extra for topping

4 very ripe bananas, mashed 

1/4 cup olive oil (you can also use avocado or vegetable oil)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream

Preparation:

Prepare 18 muffin cups with parchment baking cups.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl mash the bananas,  Next add in olive oil, eggs, vanilla and sour cream to the mashed bananas and mix until combined.  In the same bowl add the flour (I like to sift mine), sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix all the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.  Now add your chocolate chips and stir again to incorporate the chocolate throughout the batter.

Fill muffin liners all the way to the top with your batter and sprinkle on extra mini chocolate chips on the top of each filled cup.  Bake at 425 degrees for 7-8 minutes and then lower the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for another 7-8 minutes.  The tops of the muffins should be light golden brown and domed on top.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

I have a lot of Strawberry recipes heading your way!  I bought a huge 5lb container of strawberries and they were not as good as they looked for just eating by themselves but perfect to bake with!  Here is the first of many Strawberry recipes!  This Strawberry Cream Cheese bread is amazing.   It a very light but moist texture and it isn't overly sweet!  You can add really any berry that you like but I love it with strawberries.   Very easy to make all in one bowl!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk ( I used 2 teaspoons of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of lowfat milk - combine and let stand for a few minutes)
1 1/2 cups strawberries, diced

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.  Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and combine well.  Mix in one at a time baking powder, baking soda and salt. Next add flour one cup at a time until batter if fully mixed and smooth.  Last add in the buttermilk and stir until combined.  Carefully fold in strawberries.  Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes.  The inside should be set (not jiggly) and the top golden brown.

Classic Crepes

Homemade Pancakes is my go to quick easy weekend breakfast for my kids.  I've been wanting to try to make crepes for awhile now so I finally gave it a shot.  What a huge hit these were.  I love how you can serve them so many different ways.  The kids can choose to spread on some Nutella or jam or eat them plain (which is my favorite way) They are sooo good they really don't need also on top.  I love it with fresh berries and a little powdered sugar!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon sugar

1 pinch of salt

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients in a blender until batter is well combined and smooth.  Heat a 10" non-stick skillet or a crepe pan if you have one.  Melt a teaspoon of butter in the bottom of the pan and pour a 1/4 cup of the crepe mixture in the bottom of the pan swirling it around so it reaches the edges of the pan evenly.  Let sit for about 30-45 second before loosening the edges with a spatula and then using your finger tips or the spatula flip the crepe over to cook for another 30 seconds on the other side.  No need to add anymore butter to the pan.  Keep going with more crepes stacking them on top of each other until the batter is finished.   I serve these simply by folding them in quarters, sprinkling with powdered sugar and adding fresh berries.  You can also add jam, hazelnut spread, syrup of whatever you would like! 

Homemade Cinnamon Syrup

I wanted to make pancakes after both of my girls had sleepovers and we were out of maple syrup.  So I made my own!  Wow this was easy and soooo much better than the bottled syrup from the grocery store.  I loved the added cinnamon which made everything taste so warm and homey.  Super easy and I'm sure you have all of the ingredients on hand at home to whip up a batch of your own.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter

Preparation:

In a microwavable dish add all ingredients except for butter.  Microwave at high for 1 minute.  Remove, stir and microwave a second time for 1 minute.  Remove from microwave, stir in butter until melted, cool and serve over your favorite pancakes, waffles or french toast!  Pour left overs in an air tight container and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Passover Granola

Happy Passover!

This recipe is nothing short of delicious.  I was given this recipe from a new friend that I met recently playing Mah Jongg.   It's made with Matzoh Farfel and lots of yummy dried fruit and nuts.  My friend Caryn, who already made some for her family was so sweet to drop off a whole bag of mixed dried fruit so I can test this recipe.  Thank you Caryn!  I hope you try it too because it really is amazing.  If you don't have Matzoh Farfel, you can just take sheets of Matzah and place in a large Ziplock bag and crush the using a rolling pin.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cups Matzoh Farfel
1 Cup Almonds, Coarsely chopped
1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) Butter
2 Tablespoons Honey
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Mixed Dried Fruit ( I used Apricots, Prunes, Figs and Apples)

Preparation:

Preheat Oven to 325 F.  Spread Farfel on a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10-20 minutes, tossing several times until it's very lightly toasted (watch carefully)

Meanwhile in a 2-quart saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, honey and salt.  Bring to a simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Place the Farfel, Nuts and Dried Fruit in a large bowl and drizzle the Brown Sugar/Honey mixture over  top.  Toss until Farfel, Nuts and Dried fruit is coasted well.

Spread mixture back on to cookie sheet and bake in a 350 F oven for another 10-20 minutes stirring frequently to prevent burning, until Granola is golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool.  Once Granola is cool you can store in an air tight container to store or just take a handful and Enjoy!

WHAT’S FOR SUNDAY BRUNCH? Raspberry Stuffed French Toast w/ Frosted Cereal Crust

I made this as a trial recipe yesterday thinking I would have to tweak it a few times. My husband ate my trial in about 1 minute and left nothing over.  I guess no tweaking needed.  Super delicious!  Sweet, tart, creamy and crunchy all in one bite!  This recipe is a little time consuming but really yummy for a special breakfast treat!  I hope you’ll give it a try. 

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Milk

Frosted Cereal, crushed

Sliced Bread (any type)

1/2 Cup Frozen Raspberries, thawed and mashed (plus a few whole for garnish)

1/2 Cup Cream Cheese

1/4 Cup Powdered Sugar (plus extra for dusting)

3-4 Tablespoons Butter for frying

Preparation:

In a flat. shallow bowl whisk eggs and milk, set aside.  Place Frosted Cereal in a Ziplock bag, seal and crush using a rolling pin.  Pour crushed cereal into another flat, shallow bowl, set aside.

Combine mashed raspberries, cream cheese and powdered sugar.  Mix until fully incorporated.

Spread raspberry mixture on one slice of bread and top with second slice of bread.  Take "sandwich" and soak in egg mixture, turning to get both sides wet.  Then place in crush cereal to coat completely.  Flip and coat 2nd side in crushed cereal.

In a large frying pan over medium heat melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter.  Add stuffed french toast and fry for about 2 minutes making sure to brown but not burn your french toast.  This will go very quickly and the frosted cereal can burn easily so do not walk away.  Once browned on one side, add a little more butter and flip to brown 2nd side of bread.

Transfer to plate, sprinkle with a few whole raspberries and a dusting of powered sugar and serve immediately.

Applesauce Cinnamon Mini Muffins with Cracker Crumb Topping

I'm always trying to think of different ways to use staples that I always have in my house to create recipes.  the classic salty and sweet combination is always a winner so why not use salty, buttery crackers as an ingredient in a crumb topping?  I had to actually change many things in this receipe to suit the ingredients I had on hand.  I made these muffins over a year ago but never got around to posting it so I decided to make it again and take new pictures.  The original recipe called for butter, yogurt and graham crackers so naturally I subbed in oil, sour cream and Club crackers.  I added more sugar to the crumb topping to cut the savory aspect of the crackers a bit and these little muffins were soooooo delicious.  Much better than the original recipe.  They were literally gone in minutes.  I guess I need to double the recipe next time :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2  cup applesauce
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 cups crackers, crushed into find crumbs. 
(You can use any delicate salted crackers such as Club or Ritz crackers)
1/4 cup brown sugar


Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl beat together sugar, eggs and oil.   Add applesauce, sour cream and vanilla to the egg mixture and combine well.  In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time until fully combined.

For the crumb topping.  Add crushed crackers, brown sugar and melted butter to a bowl and combine until all the crackers are moist and the mixture resembles a crumb topping.  

Spoon muffin batter by a heaping tablespoonful into a greased mini muffin tin and then top with a generous teaspoon full of cracker crumbs.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Cool before removing from muffin tins.

Grain Free and Sugar Free Almond Banana Bread

In the effort to cut out as much carbs and sugar out of my diet, I found a recipe on Pinterest for a grain free banana bread.  It was posted on Bravo for Paleo, click HERE for the original recipe.  I did alter it quite a bit to suit my taste.  I love that I can have something sweet and bread like without worrying about breaking my diet.  The bananas are so sweet so I really don't miss the added sugar which in normal banana bread recipes can be up to 2 cups!!!  So here's a recipe you can feel good about eating yourself and giving to your kids.

Ingredients:

3 bananas, mashed

3 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup coconut flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons flax seed meal

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl mash 3 bananas, add eggs and almond extract and beat together with an electric mixer.  Next add in coconut oil, melted and mix until combined.   In a separated bowl using a fork mix together almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and flax seed meal until completely combined and all lumps are broken up.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.  The batter will be VERY thick, almost dough like.  Spoon batter in to a loaf pan sprayed well with non-stick cooking spray (preferably coconut oil spray).  Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes.  It's really delicious severed warm with butter (if you are eating dairy), YUM!

Easy Colorful Powdered Donuts

I don't think this counts as an actual recipe but it is fun to make and the kids LOVED them.

Ingredients:

1 box of mini powdered donuts
A few cans of Wilton Color Mist food dye spray

Preparation:

On a covered surface place one donut at a time.  Hold spray can about 6 inches away from the donut and lightly spray the surface until you get the desired color and coverage.  You can spray the donuts all one solid color or have some fun with it and give them a tie dyed effect by spraying a few colors on each donut.   These donuts are a great addition to a color themed party.  You can buy this spray in many different colors so have fun!

French Toast Casserole Muffins

It's a super chilly spring morning today and I wanted to make something quick and easy for breakfast that the kids can grab and go to my son's soccer game.  These little muffins are super moist, sweet and yummy and they are just as good without syrup as they are with.  What a perfect breakfast treat.  I'm packing up a bunch of these to take to the game for any other parents who would like a sweet bite with their coffee as we freeze together on the soccer field.

Ingredients:

12 small rolls like hamburger rolls or 18 slices of bread torn into small pieces

9 eggs

3 tablespoons brown sugar (plus a little extra for sprinkling)

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 tablespoons cinnamon

pinch of salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 2 muffin tins (24 muffins in all) generously with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large bowl beat the eggs until fluffy.  Add the sugars, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and mix together until well combined.  Add the torn bread pieces into the egg mixture and stir until coated well.  Let the mixture stand so the bread can soak up all the egg mixture, about 3 minutes.   Spoon french toast mixture into greased muffin tins filling each cup up at least 1/2 full up to 3/4 full.   Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with some brown sugar.  Bake muffins for 25 minutes until golden brown.  Drizzle with maple syrup and serve hot.

**This is not a like a cake muffin but rather like a super moist french toast casserole in muffin form.

Spicy Chicken Sausage and Veggie Quiche "crustless"

Great for those of you who are trying to cut out carbs. This crustless quiche is jam packed with delicious flavorful veggies and a yummy spicy chicken sausage.  You won't even miss the crust when you have this.  Great for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even a light dinner.

Ingredients:

5 links of spicy chicken sausage(I used the jalapeño chicken sausage from Trader Joes) you may substitute any sausage that you prefer.
1 package of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained well
1 yellow squash, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
6 eggs (or 8 egg whites)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 13x9 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  In a large  saucepan add about a tablespoon of olive oil and brown sausage links.  Once sausage is browned on all sides remove from pan, slice and set aside.  Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the hot saucepan and add in the yellow squash and zucchini slices and sauté on medium heat until slightly soft.  Next add the drained, chopped spinach to the pan and warm through.  Add back in the sliced sausage and cook contents for an additional 3 minutes.  Turn off heat and set pan aside to cool.  In a large bowl add in your eggs (or egg whites) and beat until frothy.  To the egg mixture add the cooled sausage and veggies and mix well.  Lastly, add in the shredded cheese and mix.  Pour quiche mixture into the prepared casserole dish and place in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes.  Quiche is done when lightly browned on top and firm to the touch in the center of quiche.   Slice into squares and serve hot.

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oatmeal - Oatmeal Party Bar

When we have family get togethers it's usually early so we typically serve Brunch.  It seems though we ALWAYS serve the same things over and over again.  Bagels, lox, salads, french toast casserole etc.  So this time when I had my entire family over for Brunch to celebrate my daughter's 12th birthday I decided to add a new item - Oatmeal.  I know many family members like oatmeal including many of the kids but I  also know that everyone likes to eat oatmeal flavored their own way.   For example, my kids love brown sugar and maple syrup in their oatmeal but my Mom always flavors hers with a little salt and prefers it more savory.   So I set up a "bar" of flavoring ingredients which was also a great way to make use of the case of mason jars I just bought at target.   I made a double portion of slow cooker steel cut oatmeal (recipe below) and set up mason jars filled with different ingredients.  Brown sugar, coconut, nuts, maple syrup, dried fruit, cinnamon -  just to name a few.  I also had a jar with fresh blueberries (not shown).  The options are endless! This was a fun  addition to our family brunch menu.  The kids really loved making their own oatmeal as did the adults.  

Ingredients:

1 cup Steel Cut oats (not the quick cook)- Also known as Irish Oats.

1 1/2 cups low fat milk or Almond Milk

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a slow cooker add all ingredients and stir.  Set your slow cooker to the low and let cook for 3 hours.  Check oatmeal after 3 hours and give it a stir and a taste.  Oatmeal should be thick but spoonable.  When tasted it should have a lot of texture but be soft not be crunchy.   If you feel your oatmeal is too thick add a splash a milk and give it a good stir.  If you feel it's too runny let it cook for another 30 minutes and check again.  Every slow cooker is different so you will have to play around with your recipe to see how long it will take for you.  If you want to cook it longer you can also set your slow cooker to warm intend of low and let it go for 4-5 hours before checking.  

Perfect Thin Pancakes

If you like pancakes that are thicker than a crepe but thinner than the usual pancake then this is the recipe for you.  This super simple recipe takes just a minute to whip up and is super delicious.  They  are thin and buttery with crispy edges, totally irresistible.  Serve with warm maple syrup, powdered sugar or plain straight out of the skillet.  I promise you will LOVE these for anytime of the day or night.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
additional butter for cooking

Preparation:

In a medium bowl beat together the eggs, milk vanilla and melted butter.  Next add in flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and whisk until smooth.   Place a teaspoon of butter in a non stick skillet or on a griddle pan and spread out evenly.   Add about 1/4 cup of batter to the hot, buttered skillet.  When batter begins to set around the edges, carefully flip pancake using a large spatula.  Cook other side of pancake until golden brown and pancake is cooked all the way through.   Add another teaspoon of margarine to hot skillet in-between cooking each pancake, this will ensure a delicious crispy edge on each pancake.  Transfer pancakes to a serving tray and enjoy!  Serve with warm maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

Susan brought this to our last family brunch.  It was a huge hit especially with the guys.   If you like cinnamon you will LOVE this easy quick bread.  

Ingredients:

2 cups All Purpose / Plain flour 
1 1/2 cups regular sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Tbsp cinnamon powder
The Glaze:
1/4 cup powdered / icing sugar
2 tsp milk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Grease a 9-in loaf pan.  Combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, buttermilk, egg, vanilla and oil; stir just until moistened.  In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar. Pour half of the batter into bread pan; sprinkle with half of the cinnamon-sugar. Spread with remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar.  Using a skewer or knife, cut through the batter to swirl a few times. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing to wire rack. Cool completely.  For the glaze, combine icing / powdered sugar and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over loaf.  Allow to cool. 

Lemon Zucchini Muffins with Lemon Glaze

We just returned from spending the summer in sunny California!  What a nice extended vacation.  We stayed with my Aunt who has the most fabulous fruit trees in her backyard.  How nice to go out and pick a lemon, orange or apple anytime we wanted.  I use lemons ALL the time when I cook and bake so this was just super convenient.  Also since it was so nice and hot where we were and you pick the lemons fresh off the tree you get this warm very juicy piece of fruit to use which was so easy to extract juice from.  The kids made fresh lemonade a few times which they absolutely LOVED.  The recipe that I made, Lemon Zuchinni Bread was super delicious and light and refreshing.  The perfect summer treat.

Beautiful Lemon Tree

Ingredients:

1 c grated Zucchini
Zest of 1 lemon
2 TB lemon juice
1 c sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (or scant 1/2 c of milk with 1 TB lemon juice mixed in)
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tap salt

Lemon icing
1 c powdered sugar
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB milk

Preparation:

For cake mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) together and set aside

In large bowl beat eggs, add sugar and oil and mix until combined.  Next add buttermilk and lemon juice and lemon zest. Fold in grated Zuchinni.

Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until well combined.

Pour into prepared lined muffin tins to make muffins or a greased loaf pan to make a cake.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 min for muffins or 40-45 min for loaf pan.

For the icing combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk together.  Drizzle over warm cake.

Enjoy!

Quick and Easy Fig Preserves

 

I absolutely love fig jam and preserves served with cheese, so delicious.   So when I picked a few more figs this morning this was the first thing I wanted to make.  Not sure if this technically classifies as jam or preserves because there is no pectin in this recipe but it's sweet and thick and perfect to spread on toast so in my book it's close enough :)  It definitely won't have the shelf life of the preserves that you buy in the store so make it just a day or so ahead of the time you want to use it.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup fresh figs, diced

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

 

Preparation:

 

In a small saucepan combine all ingredients.  Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 10 minutes.  Use an immersion blender directly in hot pan to puree the fig mixture into a smoother (but not completely smooth) consistency.  Pour into a small bowl and refrigerate until completely cool. 

Fig Banana Bread

 

I was so excited to discover a gorgeous fig tree in my backyard this year that I didn't even know I had.  A friend of mine pointed it out to me one day at the end of the summer and to my surprise at closer inspection the tree was covered with about a hundred figs which in a few weeks would be ready to pick.  Ever since that moment I have been slightly obsessed with this tree and going out daily to inspect it and impatiently waiting for one of those hard little green figs to ripen to a big, juicy purple fruit.  Well the other day I was so thrilled to find about a dozen beautiful ripe figs ready to be picked.   So now over the next few weeks I will be testing as many fig recipes as I can find!!  The first of which is this delicious super moist Fig Banana Bread!! YUM YUM YUM!

My fig tree!

 

Figs before they start to ripen

 

Figs starting to ripen

 

 

Nice ripe figs ready to be picked!!

 

Perfect

 

The most deliciously moist Fig Banana Bread straight from the oven.....it smells amazing!

 

Ingredients:

 

4 small very ripe bananas

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

6 ripe figs, quartered

6 ripe figs, diced

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 cup white flour 1 cup whole wheat flour)

 

Preparation:

 

In a large bowl beat together coconut oil, brown sugar, bananas and vanilla until combined well.  Add to the mixture 6 figs which have been quartered and beat into the mixture until they are broken down and part of the batter.  Next, beat in eggs until combined.  Sprinkle in baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix.  Add flour one cup at a time until batter is smooth.  Lastly to add more fig flavor and texture mix in the final 6 figs that you have diced.  Mix these in with a spoon to avoid breaking them up completely.  Pour batter into a loaf pan that has been greased with non-stick cooking spray ( I use coconut oil spray).  Bake at 350 degrees F until bread is set in the middle, about 50 minutes.  Allow to cool before slicing.

 

 

 

 

Quick & Easy French Toast Casserole

 

 My daughter wanted french toast for breakfast so I took out the huge frying pan and then I thought.....I don't want to stand at my stove and make french toast for everyone and then they are all done eating while I'm still cooking.  So I decided to make a casserole instead.  The only problem is usually you need to soak the bread in the custard overnight before you bake it and I needed something to be done from start to finish in 30 minutes.  So I decided to break the french toast casserole rules and just wing it.  It came out delicious and you would never know that it wasn't soaked overnight. 

 

**Update 9/7/13 - This is the most popular recipe that we have on our blog.  It continues to be a big hit so I thought I'd update the pictures and re-post it for anyone who is looking for something simple and quick to make for breakfast or brunch.  It's great for your family or a big crowd!! Enjoy, Ellen :) 

Ingredients:

4-5 cups of torn challah bread (or any thick sliced bread)
5 eggs
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup
*optional - sprinkle some brown sugar over the top before you bake for a nice sweet crusty top!

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 casserole dish.  Pour about 1/2 cup of syrup in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Layer torn bread on top of the syrup.  In a large bowl beat eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.  Pour egg mixture evenly over bread in casserole dish and press bread down to make sure it's completely soaked.  Drizzle remaining syrup over top of bread and custard.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until casserole is puffed up and golden brown on top.  Remove from oven and drizzle additional maple syrup on top and serve while hot.

Grilled Asaparagus Quiche Breakfast Sandwich

I made this breakfast sandwich the other morning using leftover crust less asparagus quiche that I had made the day before.  My kids LOVED it. 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

for crust less quiche:
7 eggs
1 bunch of asparagus
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

for grilled cheese sandwich:
2 slices of any kind of cheese you like (I used American cheese)
2 slices of any kind of bread you like (I used whole wheat bread)
butter or margarine, softened

Preparation:

Cut off bottom 1/3 of asparagus and discard.   Cut asparagus into small bite size pieces and place in a microwave safe bowl and add a tablespoon of water.  Steam in microwave on high for 60 seconds.  Meanwhile, beat eggs with milk in a large bowl.  To egg mixture add chopped sage, salt and pepper to taste.  Now add steamed asparagus pieces and shredded cheese.  Mix everything together and pour into a small casserole dish that has been greased with non-stick cooking spray.  Bake at 375 degrees F. for 45 minutes, remove from oven and let cool slightly.

To assemble sandwich; cut a small square of quiche and set aside.  Spread softened butter or margarine on one side of each slice of bread.  Place a small frying pan on stove on med/high heat.  Add one slice of bread butter side down in hot pan.  Next, add one slice of cheese, then a square of crust less quiche, another slice of cheese and lastly add the second piece of bread butter side up.  Brown bread for a minute or two and flip and then brown the other side of bread.  Watch this carefully so you don't burn the bread.  Once both sides of bread are brown and cheese is melted remove from pan and cut sandwich in half or quarters and Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Toffee Coffee Cake

I think the combination of peanut butter and toffee is so delicious so I wanted to incorporate both of the flavors somehow.  The obvious thing would be to put them into cookies but I wanted to do something a little different.  I've been wanting to make homemade coffee cake for awhile so I thought that it would be a perfect combination and I was really right!  This cake is fantastic.  The cake is super moist with the perfect flavor combination of peanut butter and toffee.  The crumb topping is is thick and super crunchy and crumbly with the same flavor combo of peanut butter and toffee.   This cake is seriously dangerous and I have to get it out of my house before I gain 5 lbs just from looking at it.   This cake would make a great addition to breakfast or brunch menu or it's a delicious after school snack for the kids.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup milk

1egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup toffee bits, divided (1/2 cup - 1/2 cup)
 

 

Preparation:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a round cake pan or a 9x13 inch pan.  Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar and butter; mix on low speed with an electric mixer until crumbly. Remove 1/2 cup of crumb mixture and set aside to be used for topping.  To one half of the crubm mixtures add milk, baking powder, vanilla, egg, and peanut butter; beat at low speed until well mixed.  Add in 1/2 cup of toffee bits and beat until combined. Spread batter evenly in pan.  To make the topping: In a small bowl, mix peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup toffee bits, and reserved 1/2 cup crumb mixture. Sprinkle mixture evenly over batter in pan.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until it tests done. Cool cake completely in pan on rack.