Bake Me More

Saturday morning is our “big breakfast” day. Usually we will have either pancakes, or some type of egg dish. Today I had some baked potatoes (from last night’s dinner) to use up. They were already seasoned and buttered, so I just chopped them and used my hash brown frittata recipe to finish the dish. It’s basic and simple… and it’s gone.

*In addition to using the baked potatoes, I used 7 regular eggs instead of Egg Beaters. Topped it out with sour cream and salsa.

I was too tired to go to the grocery store, so we had to settle for whatever the pantry would provide…  This is how most of the dinners went this week. Sadly, there were not a lot of choices. On nights like this, I often resort to breakfast for dinner… enter, the pancake. Pancakes are never refused in this house, and I enjoy “mixing up” the flavor just for fun. As a last minute idea, I sauteed some thin sliced apples and placed them on top of the cinnamon pancake batter. The combination of cinnamon, sugar and apples was tremendous. It reminded me of a snickerdoodle. Here’s how I did it:

BTW, if the ease of preparation doesn’t convince you, the aroma of cinnamon sugar and apples will.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Pancake batter (your preference)
• 2 medium apples, thinly sliced
• Cinnamon sugar
• Syrup
• Whipped topping

Directions:

Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over sliced apples. Spray a small fry pan with butter spray and saute the apples until they begin to soften. Meanwhile, prepare your favorite pancake batter. Add cinnamon sugar to taste. On a hot griddle or fry pan, pour equal amounts of pancake batter and top with an apple slice, pressing down just slightly, but not covering the apple. Continue to cook the pancake as normal, flipping only once. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.  

Notes:

1. I have found that it works better to place the apple slices on top of the batter, versus pouring the batter over the slices.
2. I didn’t measure the cinnamon and sugar. I rarely do. I have trained my nose to measure certain seasonings.

I went searching for two things this weekend. One, was a breakfast snack to take to church, the second came after I made a baking decision. That is, what does a biscuit (or yeast bread), butter, sugar and cinnamon have to do with monkeys? Well, to be honest I really didn’t search very long for that last answer, but I did make a wonderful cinnamon breakfast bread, curiously known as “Monkey Bread”. You can do it too… even the least skilled baker can make these, here’s how.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 rolls Grands Buttermilk Biscuits (or 4 packs of smaller biscuits)
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (maybe more)
• 1/2 cup butter (that’s 1 stick)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of a 12″ fluted or tube pan with cooking spray.

Chop pecans and place on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 5 -7 minutes, or until they become fragrant.

In a sauce pan, melt butter, then add brown sugar. Simmer butter mixture while preparing biscuits…stir regularly. The longer the butter mix stays on the burner, the better the caramel flavor. While the mix simmers, combine the cream cheese and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Open one of the biscuit packages and cut each biscuit in half. Flatten each one slightly and place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese in the middle and wrap the biscuit into a ball, enclosing the cream cheese. Set these aside.

Open the other biscuits and cut into quarters. Roll each biscuit in cinnamon sugar. Place the toasted pecans in the bottom of the pan. Begin placing quartered biscuits in the pan. Once you have a single layer, roll the cream cheese halves in the cinnamon sugar and place around the pan. Finish with remaining quarters. Finally, pour the melted butter/brown sugar evenly over all of the biscuits.  **see note

(Does this make sense? Maybe the following will simplify it)

• Layer 1:   Toasted Pecans
• Layer 2:   Layer of Biscuit quarters (not the cream cheese filled)
• Layer 3:   Now, place the filled biscuits around the pan
• Layer 4:   Finish with the remaining biscuits
• Layer 5:   Butter, brown sugar mixture

Bake for 35 minutes, then cover with foil (to keep the top biscuits from browning too much). Bake for another 20 minutes… The bread will be “firm” if you shake the pan. Remove from oven and cool pan on wire rack for 10 – 15 minutes. Flip bread onto large plate… then pull apart and enjoy… Milk is suggested too.

Now for me, the cream cheese was an addition. I also only used about 2 1/2 rolls in one pan, the rest I put in a 8″ cake pan for us to have at home. Thus, you may not use all three packages of rolls. You don’t have to add the pecans or the cream cheese, I usually don’t, I just wanted to spiff this one up a bit.

**Regarding the pouring of butter/brown sugar mixture. Don’t put any in the pan before layering the biscuits or the biscuits will stick to the pan. Pouring the mixture over the top keeps this from happening, but trust me, it will coat all of the pieces well.

You can also find this recipe and similar ones at Pillsbury.com:

This recipe was one of my first posts. I have been wanting to update it, and post some decent photographs. The opportunity to recap the recipe came this morning. This is a very simple recipe, and a good healthy option, as it uses egg beaters and incorporates veggies.

Frittata’s are a great way to serve an easy, scrumptious meal with many possible variations. It is also a way to introduce new veggies to your kids, without them really knowing… BTW, the Southwestern Style Egg Beaters has a little zing to it. If you choose to use regular egg beaters, you will want to add some salt and pepper, or other seasonings.

Hash Brown Frittata

Ingredients:

• 1 Small Onion, diced
• 4 slices cooked bacon, chopped or broken into small pieces – divided
• 1 Bag Simply Potatoes Hash browns, with or without onions
• 1 Carton Egg Beaters Southwestern Style
• 1 – 1/2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 – 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
•  Optional Toppings: Salsa, sour cream, grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Set oven to broil.

Spray a 10″ oven proof skillet with cooking spray. Saute onions and 2 slices of bacon pieces until tender, you may have to add some water to keep from burning (or oil). Add hash brown potatoes and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and “mostly” cooked. Spread mixture out evenly in pan and pour in Egg Beaters. Cook for about two minutes – lifting the edges to allow the “runny” part of the egg beaters under the sides (like you do an omelet). Top with shredded cheese and “strategically”  place the sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese. I like to make it proportional – so I can cut slices in the frittata without having to cut the tomatoes. Sprinkle remaining bacon pieces the top and place under broiler until the cheese begins to melt and the center is set. Remove from oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then slice and serve with optional toppings.

Finally – this is a lower calorie food – Using the Egg Beaters, the potatoes, veggies – and I use 2% cheese… Eight servings runs about 200 calories without the extra toppings.

Sweet Friends!

 First off, let me say that many people snub their nose to participating in this “chain recipe”. After making it tonight, I am thinking it is the way to go! Unless you are originating the chain with the starter yourself, it is practically painless to pull of this sweet bread. AND, there are tons of variations to use with this sourdough starter. I am hooked now… bring on the friends!

Well, I have only eaten Amish Friendship Bread once a long time ago. All I remember was that it was really good. That same day I went home with my own starter bag, only to completely forget to do anything else with it. Hence, this is my first time ever actually “following through” with the recipe. To be completely honest, I almost didn’t make this one either. I was already about 36 hours after the 10 day mark; however, some internet research re-assured me that it would be ok to use.

Amish Friendship Bread

The bread was fabulous, not to mention very easy to combine and bake. It baked perfectly in exactly one hour (as the directions stated).  Now I have 4 more starters, and 10 days to make tonights two loaves last. I do plan to use one of the starters in the morning to make some Amish cookies. I will certainly post those results tomorrow.

Amish Friendship Bread (a.k.a. Sourdough Starter)

(You either need a friend with a starter, or to make your own. I found several decent looking recipes in my searches)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 – (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 cup Amish starter
• 3 eggs
• 1/2  cup oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla

Topping:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9 x 5″ loaf pans and dust bottom and sides of pan with cinnamon sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients, make a well in the center of the mix and set aside. Combine the wet ingredients and mix well, pour into well of the flour mixture and stir until batter is well combined, but don’t over-mix. Pour batter evenly into pans and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then remove and serve, or cool completely and store in a airtight container.

*I always store my sweet/quick breads in the refrigerator. I think they taste better that way.

**I read numerous reviews stating you can freeze the starter, defrosting it in the fridge for 3 hours, then continuing with the proper daily sequence.

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