For days when a bowl of cereal just won't cut it.
- By Robin Anish
Barbecue grills are fired up and there is some good eating going on in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont.
Burgers and hot dogs, steaks and slow-roasted cuts of brisket and pork shoulders slathered with sticky, spicy-sweet sauces are classic fare for a backyard barbecue.
But, how about firing up the grill while the morning coffee brews and head outdoors to grill up a hearty breakfast?
FRENCH TOAST ON THE GRILL
INGREDIENTS:
6 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
Loaf of sturdy bread such as challah, brioche or artisan-style, cut into eight 1-inch slices
Butter and maple syrup for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Gradually whisk in half-and-half until thoroughly blended.
Preheat grill to medium heat. Lightly oil grill grates.
Dip bread slices in egg mixture until saturated. Arrange on grill, close lid and cook 3 minutes. Flip and grill for about 3 minutes longer or until the French toast is cooked through.
Serve with butter and maple syrup.
***
Opposites attract, and this savory grilled ham paired with the sweet French toast complement each other deliciously!
GRILLED SMOKED HAM
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
fully cooked center-cut smoked ham slice, about 1 inch thick
DIRECTIONS:
Combine syrup, brown sugar and pepper. Brush on ham slice and grill alongside French toast until heated through.
***
GRILLED HOME FRIES
INGREDIENTS:
5 potatoes sliced 1/8 inch
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat. Spread a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a work surface. Arrange potatoes, onion, bacon and garlic in the middle of the foil. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap foil around potato mixture to form a packet.
Place packet on grill and cook until potatoes are tender and bacon is cooked, about 15 minutes.
***
Fresh fruit, skewered and grilled until the juices caramelize, round out this grilled breakfast menu.
GRILLED FRUIT KEBABS
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoon butter, melted
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mixed fresh, but firm, ripe fruits cut into 1" chunks. Bananas, nectarines, peeled peaches, cantaloupe or whole strawberries are great choices.
Wooden skewers soaked in enough water to cover for 30 minute
Greek yogurt to serve
DIRECTIONS:
Alternately thread pieces of fruit on skewers.
In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey and lime juice. Brush on kabobs.
Grill over medium heat about 5 minutes until heated through and fruit begins to caramelize. Brush any remaining glaze over fruit while cooking.
Serve with a spoonful of good quality vanilla or plain Greek yogurt.
Happy grilling!
Made by slow cooking apples mixed with autumn-favorite spices like cinnamon and allspice, apple butter is a highly concentrated jam-like spread filled to the brim with apple flavors. It’s essentially fall in a jar, and incredibly easy to make. All you need is some basic spices, a slow-cooker, blender or immersion blender and a lot of apples, which most of us have judging from all the masked-orchard selfies popping up all over social media.
If you’re worried about which apples to use when making apple butter, don’t. The basic recipe is pretty forgiving and can be tweaked based on personal preference. When asked what kind of apples work best for this recipe, Gail Houle, manager of Cortland Hill Orchard in Brattleboro, Vt., suggested her orchard’s namesake: “Cortlands are great because they are a soft apple with good flavor and take less time to cook.”
Softer apple varieties are recommended because they cook down faster, needing less time in the Crockpot and holding on to more flavor. Other varieties worth trying include Fuji, Golden Delicious and Idared. You can also mix different varieties together.
My family hit the orchards twice this fall, and after we’d gotten our fill of apple crisp, chunky applesauce, pie and dumplings, I turned to my trusty Crockpot to help me use up the stray apples rolling around my cool mudroom floor. After a long, delightful-smelling day of cooking down the apples while I worked from home, I was left with about five to six pints of apple butter, which I promptly canned. But now, instead of wondering what to do with all these apples, I’m left with all this apple butter. A good problem to have, of course, but still a kitchen conundrum.
I grabbed my favorite kitchen tool that always helps turn my leftovers, extra produce or veggies into a new vehicle of breakfast or snack food to be consumed by the boys in my house: muffin tins. I tinkered with a few recipes for Apple Quick Breads and came to find this variation on a New York Times recipe worked best for morning snack time at my son’s preschool. I reduced the sugar, used only white flour (though, you can use 1 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of all-purpose if you’d like) and made the loaf-pan recipe into muffins.
The result is a perfectly moist, just-sweet enough muffin that tastes every bit of fall as it’s darkly rich apple butter main ingredient. If you’re looking to add extras, don’t be afraid to throw in 1/2 cup of raisins or even caramel bits if you’re feeling festive.
APPLE BUTTER MUFFINS
Yield: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup apple butter
¼ cup plain yogurt
Turbinado sugar, as needed, for finishing
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350 F, and lightly grease 12 muffin tins. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the oil and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk well after each addition to incorporate. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and stir just to combine. The batter will be thick at this point. Add the apple butter and yogurt and mix well to incorporate. Pour the batter into the muffin tins.
If using, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes.
SLOW-COOKER APPLE BUTTER
Yield: about 6 pints
INGREDIENTS:
12 apples, peeled, cored and cut into small cubes
2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
DIRECTIONS:
Combine apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, salt and cloves in a slow cooker. Cook on high until the apples are tender enough to mash with a fork (about 4 to 6 hours). Puree apple mixture with an immersion blender, or in a blender, but be careful when blend hot liquids.
- By Francesca Olsen, Eagle Correspondent
In the past, my January food columns have focused on healthy meals, designed to help you rebound from excessive and indulgent holiday eating. We’re ... not doing that this year.
I’ll totally be making healthy dinners (and lunches) this month, but do you really need me to offer you healthy options right now? No, you don’t. We still have plenty of reasons to be eating our feelings. So here’s a recipe for small-batch cinnamon rolls — just one portion of an unhealthy dessert — about six small rolls.
From-scratch cinnamon rolls are best fresh, anyway. I made these on New Year’s Eve and my husband and I ate the whole pan, allowing us a fresh start for the new year.
SMALL-BATCH CINNAMON ROLLS
(Adapted from Stresscake)
Makes 5 to 6 rolls
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon warm water
7 tablespoons almond milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for greasing bowl
For the filling:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
For the icing:
1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
Make the dough and first rise: Let yeast bloom in warm water for 5 minutes or until foamy. Best to do this in the bowl you’ll be using to mix. Once yeast blooms, add all other dough ingredients and mix until a dough forms and nothing is sticking to the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1 to 2 minutes. (This is a really nice dough and you probably won’t need the entire 2 minutes before it’s smooth and elastic.)
Grease a bowl with a splash of vegetable oil and add dough, cover tightly with plastic wrap or tinfoil, and let rise at least 1 hour.
Make the filling: Mix together butter, sugars, cinnamon and salt. If butter is too stiff, you can microwave the ingredients for 10 seconds to soften and help everything become homogenous. Don’t go longer than this; you want a smooth paste, not a liquid.
Once dough has risen to the point where it has doubled in size, roll out on a lightly floured surface until it’s approximately 10 inches by 12 inches. Spread filling on your 10x12 rectangle, leaving around 1/2 to 1 inch of the longer edge naked/without filling.
Starting with the 12-inch side of your dough that has filling spread to the edge, fold over 1/2-inch to start rolling, then roll your dough into a log. Brush a little water along the edge of the dough to seal — just a few drops. Cut your log into six equal pieces.
Liberally butter a small baking dish (I used a 6-inch circular aluminum pan) or muffin tin and place cinnamon rolls in the dish, then cover tightly with plastic and let rise again, at least an hour or until rolls have about doubled in size.
Mix frosting ingredients together, and microwave for 10 seconds if things aren’t coming together smoothly. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, until rolls are just golden brown (or further if you like them a bit toasty). Let cool completely before frosting.
- By Meggie Baker, The Berkshire Eagle
These days, we're all spending much more time at home and looking for ways to use up our new excess of free time. Muffins are a great quick-and-easy project, even for novice bakers just joining the post pandemic baking wave (or parents looking to distract stuck-at-home kiddos for a few).
Muffins are the perfect transitional food: They work for breakfast, afternoon snacks or a treat after dinner.
SOUR CREAM MAPLE-WALNUT MUFFINS
These are lovely and light, golden brown inside with a nice dry crumble, very reminiscent of a scone. If you're not a huge maple fan, don't be wary — the flavor is delicate and understated. If you have nut allergies in your house, feel free to leave out the walnuts. I did, and they are still a winner.
Courtesy of delish.com
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
6 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons Vermont maple syrup
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place paper liners in 12 muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.
In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and maple syrup.
On low speed, add half the dry ingredients to butter-sugar mixture. Pour in half the sour cream mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with sour cream mixture. Beat until just blended.
In a small bowl, stir together walnuts, cinnamon and remaining 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.
Pour batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle top of each muffin with walnut mixture.
Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
SOURDOUGH CARROT MUFFINS
I came across this recipe for carrot cake a few weeks back when I was looking up new ways to use up my sourdough starter and decided to try to make them muffins. I was so pleased. Not only does it use up a lot of starter, but it's also moist and easy, and great on its own. But if you wanted to cover it with some cream cheese frosting and turn these muffins into cupcakes, I won't judge. Since this recipe is adapted from a full-sized cake recipe, be aware it makes a lot of muffins. Go to town, or freeze half the dough to bake next weekend.
Recipe from the King Arthur Flour recipe for Carrot Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard
3 large eggs
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch pan, two 8-by-2-inch round pans or muffin tins if you're making muffins or cupcakes.
Combine the oil and sugar, and stir in the starter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Fold in the pineapple, carrots, walnuts, coconut and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the sides are just beginning to pull away from the edge of the pan.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
COMBINE:
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
BISQUICK BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
This recipe is an oldie and a goodie. I think it was first given to me by my Family Consumer Science teacher in eighth grade (a class focused on simple cooking and nutrition). You can see why it's a recipe you'd give to kids — there isn't a simpler recipe under the sun, and given that it uses no flour, now is its time to shine. If you're home quarantine baking and worrying over your depleting stock of dry goods, this is a great recipe to have under your hat. It's also endlessly customizable. Use whatever frozen or fresh berries you have. Add a little zest. Make it how you like it.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
3 /4 cup organic frozen blueberries
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 400 F. Grease or line a muffin tin.
Stir all ingredients except blueberries together, just until moistened. Fold in berries.
Divide batter evenly in nine muffin cups. Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
- By Lindsey Hollenbaugh, The Berkshire Eagle
Even if we deserve it, not every morning can start off with a full-plated, farmer-style breakfast, complete with pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit. Some mornings — more so lately, it seems — require a fast, nutritious breakfast that you can eat on the go, in between conference calls and setting up your kids' virtual classroom meetings.
Enter the humble breakfast bar.
But wait, I'm not talking about those sugar-filled, prepackaged bars you spend loads of money on to only get six carb-loaded bricks that are gone within days, or left in the bottom of backpacks. Homemade breakfast bars can be super simple to make and adaptable to your family's tastes. And, most importantly, delicious.
My 5-year-old son often comments when I make any version of these, "You know what would taste great in these, mama? Chocolate chips!" And he's not wrong (because, honestly, don't chocolate chips make everything taste better?) So, sometimes I throw in chocolate chips, or clean out my pantry and use up bits of dried fruit laying around in bags hiding behind the extra jars of peanut butter.
My husband works outside our home right now, and often has to leave early in the morning, grabbing a few bars wrapped in parchment paper for the road. I sometimes don't realize I haven't had breakfast while working from home (something I'm hearing others are doing a lot lately, too) so having these on hand for that 10:30 a.m. stomach grumble keeps me from grabbing a handful of Pirate Booty as I dash through the kitchen.
Oatmeal Applesauce Bars are a great way to use up homemade apple sauce that never seems to get fully eaten in my house. Or, I'm sure jar sauce will work just as well. If your applesauce isn't sugar-free consider adjusting the sugar in the recipe so the bars aren't too sweet. And five-ingredient Homemade Granola Bars are super simple and adaptable to what you have on hand. Warning: While extremely easy to make, the recipe is sticky. So, you'll want to clean up your dishes right after, or at least let everything soak in good, hot, soapy water.
OATMEAL APPLESAUCE BARS
Recipe courtesy of Food in Jars
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups rolled oats, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, melted
Optional add-ins: 1 cup toasted pecans, walnuts or almonds, toasted
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving the paper ends protruding to so that it hangs on two opposite sides.
In a food processor, combine 1 1/2 cups of the oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Process until the oats are broken down, which only takes a few minutes. Add the eggs, applesauce, brown sugar, and melted butter and process just until the ingredients are well-mixed.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats and the toasted nuts if you are using them, and pulse five or six times, until the mixture is just combined.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tops are a golden brown, the corners have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove the oat slab from the oven and let it cool completely before removing from the pan. Once it is cool, use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Slice into 12 equal bars with a serrated knife.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Or wrap the bars individually and freeze in Ziplock bags.
***
HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS
Recipe courtesy of Minimalist Baker
INGREDIENTS:
1 heaping cup packed dates (pitted)
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup if making vegan)
1/4 cup creamy salted peanut butter or almond butter
1 cup roasted unsalted almonds (loosely chopped)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
Optional add-ins: Chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, banana chips, vanilla
DIRECTIONS:
Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a "dough" like consistency, which basically means rolls into a ball.
Optional: Toast your oats (and almonds if raw) in a 350-degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Make sure to watch these as toasted goes to burnt rather quickly.
Place oats, almonds and dates in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat, again watching closely as honey can burn quickly. Stir and pour over oat mixture and then mix, breaking up the dates to disperse throughout. This will take a few minutes and the consistency will be closer to clumps than one large mixture.
Once thoroughly mixed, transfer to an 8-by-8-inch baking dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily.
Press down firmly until uniformly flattened. To keep your hands from sticking to the mixture, use extra parchment paper on your hands when pushing down.
Cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and let firm up in fridge or freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove bars from pan and chop into 10 even bars. Store in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze.
- By America's Test Kitchen
Pancakes are a blank canvas, so bring out your inner artist. You can work your magic at the table with maple syrup, honey, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon sugar, fresh fruit and/or softened butter. Or you can cook your artistry right into the pancakes by adding chocolate chips, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, sliced bananas, or raspberries instead of the blueberries. Use 1 tablespoon of add-ins per pancake. Have fun and try your own combinations.
Pancakes 101: If you have an electric griddle, it's perfect for this recipe. Just set the griddle to 350 F. You should be able to make all eight pancakes in one batch. This recipe can be doubled if you want to cook for a big crowd. Follow this recipe with your kids.
ANYTIME FLUFFY BLUEBERRY PANCAKES
Serves 2-4 (Makes 8 pancakes)
Start to finish: 35 minutes (Active Time: 15 minutes)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup blueberries
COOKING EQUIPMENT:
2 bowls (1 medium, 1 small)
Whisk
Rubber spatula
12-inch nonstick skillet
1/4-cup dry measuring cup
1 tablespoon measuring spoon
Spatula
Plate
DIRECTIONS:
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In small bowl, whisk milk, egg, oil, and vanilla until well combined.
Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir gently with rubber spatula until just combined (batter should remain lumpy). Let batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray and heat over medium heat until hot, about 1 minute.
Use 1/4-cup dry measuring cup to scoop 1/4 cup batter into skillet. Repeat 2 more times, leaving space between mounds of batter (you want 3 pancakes to cook up separate from one another).
Sprinkle each pancake with 1 tablespoon blueberries. Cook until bubbles on surface begin to pop, 2 to 3 minutes.
Use spatula to flip pancakes and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer pancakes to plate. Repeat with remaining batter in 2 more batches. Turn off heat. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 260 calories; 87 calories from fat; 10 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 58 mg cholesterol; 681 mg sodium; 37 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 10 g sugar; 6 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Blueberry Pancakes in "Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs ."
- By Robin Anish,
Kids keep you current.
I have my kids to thank for keeping me pretty well versed in music trends, fashion trends, the latest iPhone, social media in all its forms, memes, tweets, news, politics and what it means to go viral. Yes, I'm current with it all ... the good, bad and ugly.
The bad and ugly I just as soon forget about. The current good is that people are cooking and baking like never before and with that there are recipes and food trends that are going viral.
So, here's to my daughter for keeping me current with what's trending in the culinary world.
These are difficult times, so comfort foods are at the top of the list. Somewhat out of necessity, people are getting back into the kitchen, cooking up soups and stews, macaroni and cheese, pasta dishes, sweet baked goodies and anything their mom used to make.
Since running to the market has become inconvenient, if not unnerving, getting creative and cooking with what you have on hand is trending. It's also trendy to photograph and share dishes on Instagram.
Bread baking has become one of the most popular trends, particularly, sourdough bread. Even banana bread is making the rounds on social media. I can certainly understand that!
A copycat version of Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme is right up there too. Unfamiliar with a crunch wrap? It's a combination of a tostado and a burrito that consists of a flour tortilla folded into a hexagon over a spicy ground beef filling, a tostada shell, nacho cheese sauce, sour cream, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce and then the whole thing is grilled. People are loving making it a home.
Fiercely flooding social media is a drink called dalgona. I had no clue what dalgona was until, of course, my daughter told me about it.
Dalgona is a coffee drink from South Korea made by whipping equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until it becomes a thick, caramel-like foam and then spooning it atop cold milk for a luscious presentation. The foam is then stirred into the milk and best sipped through a straw to prevent a dalgona mustache!
Dalgona is easy and fun to make. It's magical and unexpected to see the combination of coffee, sugar and water whip up into an ethereal mousse-like delight.
If you enjoy a strong cup of coffee, you will love this drink AND you will be on trend!
DALGONA
2 servings
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons instant coffee
4 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
2 cups cold milk
ice cubes, if desired
Directions:
With an electric mixer, whip coffee, sugar and hot water until fluffy, stiff peaks form. Pour a cup of cold milk into each of two glasses and add ice. Spoon equal parts of mixture over the milk. Gently stir together and drink!
Be safe and be well everyone!
- By Robin Anish
I don't often eat toast. I like toast. I'm just not much of a breakfast person, so I suppose that's why I don't often eat toast. But, I've been craving toast lately.
My mother would always give me burnt toast to settle an upset stomach when I was a kid and I always felt better. Perhaps, it's the need for comfort during an uncomfortable time that is stimulating my toast craving.
I like my toast with lots of butter and marmalade. But, there are plenty of other delicious ways to gussy up toast. I found some great ideas to share that go way beyond just butter, jam or flavored cream cheese.
Lets start with ... I was going to say something the kids would love but, really, who wouldn't love butter, sugar and chocolate melted all over their toast?
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE TOAST
Butter slices of white or cinnamon bread. Sprinkle each with granulated sugar and chocolate chips as desired. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees F until bread is toasted and chocolate is just slightly melted. Watch carefully, burnt chocolate is not tasty.
***
Here's a good one for lunch, or top it off with a fried egg and call it brunch.
TOMATO-CHEDDAR TOAST
Cook and stir 1 tablespoon tomato paste in 1/2 stick butter over medium heat until it thickens a bit, about 2 to 3 minutes; add a good dash of Worcestershire sauce. Spread on 4 slices of toasted white or rye bread. Top with shredded sharp cheddar; broil until the cheese melts.
***
Another savory toast that would be great for lunch ...
FRENCH ONION TOAST
Slowly cook 2 large sliced onions in 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until cooked down and caramelized about 45 minutes; season with a dash of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Speed over 4 slices toasted white bread; top with shredded Gruyere or a favorite cheese. Broil until the cheese melts.
***
The kids will like mixing up this nutritious toast recipe:
PEANUT BUTTER, BANANA AND HONEY TOAST
DIRECTIONS:
1 banana, sliced
4 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter
1-2 tablespoons honey, to taste
a healthy pinch of cinnamon
INGREDIENTS:
In a small bowl, mash together peanut butter, honey, and banana until blended but with some bits of banana remaining. Spread on warm toast.
***
Everyone's favorite, cinnamon sugar toast, but with a little something extra, vanilla, a must ingredient according to The Pioneer Woman whose recipe this is.
CINNAMON SUGAR TOAST
INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 slices white or wheat bread
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first four ingredients until smooth. Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface. Place bread on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes then broil briefly until golden brown and bubbling. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Cool slightly before eating; the sugar gets really hot.
Be well everyone and eat toast!
- By Robin Anish, Eagle Correspondent
I swear my father would have eaten my mother's strawberry shortcake every day of his life, if she would have let him! My mother also made the most amazing strawberry pie, but only in the early summer when the berries were fresh and local; and, again, my father would have eaten her strawberry pie every day of his life — if my mother would let him!
My father loved his strawberry desserts; then again, who doesn't? But, the window of opportunity for local strawberries is brief, too brief to just have them for dessert, especially when there are so many ways to enjoy them for breakfast!
Strawberries with cereal or in a smoothie make a great breakfast on busy mornings; but on those mornings when there is time to linger, how about a strawberry soufflé omelet or a strawberry breakfast taco.
Take advantage of the beautiful warm summer days in the Berkshires and southern Vermont, and start breakfast outdoors on the patio sipping this refreshing strawberry beverage.
FRESH STRAWBERRY BREAKFAST COOLER
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
10 ice cubes
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
Fresh mint leaves (optional garnish)
DIRECTIONS:
In a blender, combine strawberries, orange juice, ice cubes and sugar or honey. Blend until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses, garnish with mint and serve.
This a just a bit sweet and a bit savory, very light and delicious.
STRAWBERRY SOUFFLE OMELET
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar, divided
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
Confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS:
In bowl, combine strawberries, mint, vinegar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the granulated sugar; set aside.
In small bowl, whisk egg yolks with vanilla and remaining 2 teaspoons granulated sugar for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
In bowl of electric mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks.
With rubber spatula, gently fold yolks into whites just until no streaks remain. Do not over blend, so you don't deflate the egg whites.
In 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt butter.
When butter is sizzling, add egg mixture, gently spreading it into an even layer with spatula. Cover pan; reduce heat to low. Cook omelet 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown on bottom and barely set on top.
Spoon strawberries down center of omelet; with spatula, fold omelet in half overfilling. Slide omelet onto plate; dust with confectioners' sugar to serve. This makes one large omelet that can be divided into two servings.
Of course, tacos for breakfast!
STRAWBERRY BREAKFAST TACO
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
6 soft flour tortillas (6 inches)
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 3/4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon butter over medium-low heat. Add one tortilla; cook each side until light golden, 1-2 minutes. Repeat with remaining butter and tortillas.
Beat together cream cheese and honey. Mix in yogurt until blended. Spread tortillas with cream cheese mixture. Arrange strawberries over one half of each tortilla then fold other half over berries.
Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle generously over each taco to serve.
STRAWBERRY PB&J FRENCH TOAST
(Courtesy of "A Taste of Home")
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam
8 slices challah or sturdy white bread (1/2-inch thick)
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
ground cinnamon
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional maple syrup and sliced fresh strawberries
DIRECTIONS:
Spread jam over four slices of bread. Top with sliced strawberries; sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon. Spread peanut butter on remaining bread and place a slice over strawberries to make a sandwich.
Lightly grease a griddle or large skillet; heat over medium heat.
Whisk eggs, milk, 3 tablespoon syrup and vanilla until blended. Dip both sides of sandwiches in egg mixture, allowing each side to soak 10 seconds. Place sandwiches on griddle; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Serve with maple syrup and strawberry garnish.
- By America's Test Kitchen
Earthy spinach and nutty cheese star in this brunch-worthy strata.
Ideally, this savory make-ahead bread pudding should be rich enough to satisfy without being overindulgent. And, since strata is such a great make-ahead dish, it should also be straightforward to put together. Unfortunately, too many recipes for strata are soggy and laden with excessive custard and filling ingredients.
Looking to create a go-to breakfast or brunch casserole, we first considered the bread. Whole dried bread slices had the best texture and appearance, and buttering them added richness. Spinach, shallot, and Gruyere complemented each other perfectly for the filling, and we sauteed the vegetables to remove excess moisture and prevent the casserole from becoming waterlogged.
Weighting down the assembled strata overnight improved its texture; we found that two 1 pound boxes of brown or confectioners' sugar, laid side by side over the plastic wrap, made ideal weights.
One hour is minimum, but you could do it overnight to bake the strata the following morning. The recipe can be doubled and assembled in a greased 13-by 9-inch baking dish; increase the baking time to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Substitute any semisoft melting cheese, such as Havarti, sharp cheddar, or Colby for the Gruyere.
BREAKFAST STRATA WITH SPINACH AND GRUYERE
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 2 hours 15 minutes (plus 1 hour refrigeration time)
INGREDIENTS:
8-10 (1/2 inch-thick) slices French or Italian bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 shallots, minced
Salt and pepper
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
1 3/4 cups half-and-half
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 F. Arrange bread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 40 minutes, flipping slices halfway through baking. Let bread cool slightly, then spread 2 tablespoons butter evenly over 1 side of bread slices.
Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and pinch salt and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes; transfer to bowl. Add wine to now-empty skillet and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes; set aside to cool.
Grease 8-inch square baking dish. Arrange half of bread slices, buttered side up, in single layer in dish. Sprinkle half of spinach mixture and 1/2 cup Gruyere over top. Repeat with remaining bread, remaining spinach mixture, and 1/2 cup Gruyere to make second layer.
Whisk eggs, reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt, and pinch pepper together in bowl, then pour evenly over top of bread and cheese in dish. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it flush to surface. Weight down strata and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 F. Meanwhile, let strata sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Unwrap strata and top with remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere. Bake until edges and center are puffed and edges have pulled away slightly from sides of dish, 50 to 55 minutes. Let casserole cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 547 calories; 276 calories from fat; 31 g fat (17 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 292 mg cholesterol; 930 mg sodium; 40 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 24 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Strata with Spinach and Gruyere in "Vegetables Illustrated ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Although it sounds like a bad Saturday morning commercial (Pizza?! For breakfast?!!), it turns out breakfast pizza is just a creative version of the classic bread-eggs-cheese-meat combo.
It makes an ideal dish for a brunch crowd and isn't difficult if you start with store-bought pizza dough. Our challenge was getting a crisp crust without overcooking the eggs. To get there, we pressed room-temperature dough into a lightly oiled baking sheet and parbaked it for 5 minutes to give the crust a head start before we added the toppings. The remaining minutes in the oven cooked the eggs just right.
The surprising addition of cottage cheese tethered all the ingredients together with a silky creaminess. Room-temperature dough is much easier to shape than cold, so pull the dough from the fridge about 1 hour before you start cooking.
BREAKFAST PIZZA
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
6 slices bacon
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces (1/2 cup) small-curd cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 pound store-bought pizza dough, room temperature
6 large eggs
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 500 F. Grease rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.
Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; when cool enough to handle, crumble bacon. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan in bowl; set aside. Combine cottage cheese, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon oil in separate bowl; set aside.
Sprinkle counter lightly with flour. Roll dough into 15-by-11-inch rectangle with rolling pin, pulling on corners to help make distinct rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared sheet and press to edges of sheet. Brush edges of dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bake dough until top appears dry and bottom is just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove crust from oven and, using spatula, press down on any air bubbles. Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over top, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Sprinkle bacon evenly over cottage cheese mixture.
Sprinkle mozzarella mixture evenly over pizza, leaving 1/2-inch border. Create 2 rows of 3 evenly spaced small wells in cheese, each about 3 inches in diameter (6 wells total). Crack 1 egg into each well, then season each egg with salt and pepper.
Return pizza to oven and bake until crust is light golden around edges and eggs are just set, 9 to 10 minutes for slightly runny yolks or 11 to 12 minutes for soft-cooked yolks, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
Transfer pan to wire rack and let pizza cool for 5 minutes. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with scallions and chives and drizzle with extra oil. Slice and serve.
Variation: Chorizo and Manchego breakfast pizza — Substitute 6 ounces chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices, for bacon and 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese for Parmesan. Cook chorizo in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding.
Nutrition information per serving: 492 calories; 250 calories from fat; 28 g fat (10 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 248 mg cholesterol; 1190 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 26 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Pizza in "New Essentials ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
These scones are a flaky, honey-glazed brunch delight, brimming with juicy, sweet berries in a buttery, rich crumb. We achieved a perfectly crumbly texture by incorporating butter in two ways, processing some with flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt for even distribution, then pulsing more into pea-size pieces to achieve rich buttery pockets.
Tossing frozen berries in confectioners' sugar before folding them into the flour mixture prevented them from bleeding into the dough, and a honey-butter glaze, brushed on partway through baking, gave the scones a sweet sheen. Work the dough as little as possible, just until it comes together. Work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible for the best results.
Note that the butter is divided in this recipe. An equal amount of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (halved) can be used in place of the mixed berries.
Mixed berry scones
Servings: 8
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
Scones:
8 3/4 ounces (1 3/4 cups) frozen mixed berries
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, chilled
1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
DIRECTIONS:
For the scones: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. If your berry mix contains strawberries, cut them in half. Toss berries with confectioners' sugar in bowl; freeze until needed.
Combine flour, 6 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor and process until butter is fully incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add remaining 6 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in berries.
Beat milk and egg and yolk together in separate bowl. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture. Using rubber spatula, gently stir mixture, scraping from edges of bowl and folding inward until very shaggy dough forms and some bits of flour remain. Do not overmix.
Turn out dough onto well-floured counter and, if necessary, knead briefly until dough just comes together, about 3 turns. Using your floured hands and bench scraper, shape dough into 12 by 4 inch rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches tall. Using knife or bench scraper, cut dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles (you should have 8 scones total). Transfer scones to prepared sheet. Bake until scones are lightly golden on top, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
For the glaze: While scones bake, combine melted butter and honey in small bowl.
Remove scones from oven and brush tops evenly with glaze mixture. Return scones to oven and continue to bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
To make ahead:
Unbaked scones can be frozen for several weeks. After cutting scones into triangles in step 4, freeze them on baking sheet. Transfer frozen scones to zipper-lock freezer bag. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 F and extend cooking time in step 4 to 23 to 26 minutes. Glaze time in step 6 will remain at 5 to 8 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving: 446 calories; 200 calories from fat; 23 g fat (14 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 106 mg cholesterol; 571 mg sodium; 54 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 17 g sugar; 7 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Mixed Berry Scones in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
I hate to throw over-ripe bananas away. It is such a wasted opportunity for fresh fragrant banana bread. But, there is only so much banana bread that one can eat. That is why I asked myself, what else can I make with over-ripe bananas?
And, since it was Sunday, banana pancakes popped into my head. I had never made banana pancakes with over-ripe bananas. I usually make them with slices of firm, slightly green bananas because that is how I like to eat fresh bananas. As it turned out, the over-ripe bananas are way better for pancakes.
I also wanted to try a pancake technique that a friend of mine swears by. You separate the egg and blend the yolk and the white into the batter at different times. It is supposed to make the pancakes lighter. I am not sure that it made that much difference but it is easy to do, doesn't take any extra time like beating egg whites, and the resulting pancakes were light and fluffy and toothsome all at once.
The recipe is pretty basic with both sour milk and cream used as the liquid. I had cream on hand, but you could use half and half. I opted for cream because my milk was 2 percent and not whole milk. If I had had whole milk in the fridge, I would have used whole milk and half and half. I also soured my milk with white vinegar, but you could substitute buttermilk for the milk and vinegar combination.
A touch of nutmeg accented the ripe banana. I mashed the bananas as if I was making banana bread and added it to the batter right before I made the pancakes. The result was incredible_almost like banana bread pancakes. I love how the essence of banana was evident through the entire pancake but there were no discernable chunks of fruit.
Most pancake recipes instruct you to heat oil or melt butter in a skillet and "fry" the pancake. I prefer to cook them on a dry non-stick skillet so that they brown and bubble without any extra fat. If you do a side-by-side taste test, you can really see the difference. One looks like the top of a grilled quesadilla and the other resembles a baked good. The non-fried version is softer and more delicate in texture. The fried has a slightly crunchy top and is a bit greasy. Neither is right or wrong, it's all a matter of preference.
It's important to serve the pancakes with a good salted butter to bring out the banana flavor_I like Kate's Homemade Butter or Kerrygold_and real maple syrup. Other good additions are mini chocolate chips, dried coconut, toasted walnuts and pecans. These pancakes are good for breakfast, but even better served as "Breakfast for Dinner" with a side of crispy bacon.
Ripe banana pancakes
Servings: 18 medium pancakes
Start to finish: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 plus 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg, separated
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 cup cream or half and half
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ripe banana, mashed with a fork
Salted butter and real maple syrup for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven to 250 F and set a sheet pan with a rack. Set aside
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Combine the milk and the vinegar in a 2-cup glass measuring cup and let sit 1-2 minutes. Add the egg yolk, and cream or half and half and mix well. Add the melted butter to the milk and egg yolk mixture and blend with a fork until well combined.
Pour the yolk and milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a blending fork until barely combined. Mix the egg white in a small bowl until slightly foamy and add the egg white to the batter. Stir just until a thick batter is formed. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mash a ripe banana in a separate bowl. Just before cooking, combine the mashed banana and the pancake batter.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When hot, use a spoon or a ladle to drop batter in heaping spoonfuls to the pan, allowing room for the batter to spread out. Unlike most recipes, I prefer not to "fry" the pancakes in oil or butter. I like a drier non-oily finish. If your skillet is non-stick, this will not be a problem.
Cook for about 1-2 minutes, depending on size. When the pancake begins to bubble, use a thin off-set spatula to gently flip to the other side. The pancake should be golden brown, if the heat is too high, the pancake will burn on the outside and be uncooked on the inside. Cook on the other side for another 2 minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown.
Remove from the skillet to the baking sheet and place the sheet in the oven while you cook all the batter. Scrape any stray crumbs or scraps out of the skillet as you make the pancakes or the fresh pancakes will pick up the burned bits as they cook. Serve as soon as possible, with salted butter and maple syrup.
Note: If cooking for a crowd, this recipe can be easily doubled and extra pancakes can be frozen and re-heated with very little difference in taste.
Nutrition information per pancake: 99 calories; 47 calories from fat; 5 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 26 mg cholesterol; 145 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 2 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
- By The Culinary Institute of America
College kids love cereal, and that is an indisputable fact. Even if they don't love it going in, they'll probably be hooked by the third week of their freshman year. College students have lots to juggle, meaning food is often last on their list of priorities. So that makes that easy bowl of cereal a lifesaver when the work piles up.
Even at The Culinary Institute of America, where students' breakfasts can mean made-to-order eggs Benedict and huevos rancheros, convenience sometimes wins. Like, what happens when those hard-working students' alarm clocks get turned off through absolutely no fault of their own and they're running late to their 8 a.m. Chocolate and Confectionery Techniques exam?
The savior of every college student (and anyone of any age who sometimes oversleeps) is this recipe for On-the-Go Cereal Balls and here's why: One, they are yummy. Two, they are easy to make (no cooking!). And three, you can make them as healthy — or not — as you like.
All of the ingredients in this recipe, from the cereal to the nut butter to the dried fruit, can be picked up at any market. They can also be easily boxed up in a care package with the recipe included, plus a little note from home. Except for the powdered milk (which is cheap and easy to find), the ingredients are probably already in your college kid's dorm room, so they have no excuse — though they'll sure try to find one right?
Prepared quickly by hand in a bowl (or discarded pizza box, if we're being realistic), these cereal balls can be ready in a matter of minutes and will hold all week, ready to grab on the way out the door. Using whole grain cereal and lightly sweetened nut butters, they hit that sweet spot our kids so often crave at breakfast, but still offer the proteins and carbohydrates they need to power them through a busy morning.
And the flavor combinations are limited only to your family's preferences, like honey-nut cereal with almond butter and dried cranberries, or cinnamon-flavored cereal with cashew butter and dried cherries, or homemade granola and chocolate-hazelnut. There's no end to the combinations.
If you're facing food allergies, don't despair. This recipe can be made using gluten-free cereals, and the nut butters can include sunflower seed butter or even tahini, made from sesame seeds. And if dairy is an issue, you can omit the milk powder for slightly different results. This ingredient helps to bind the whole mixture together, so you might find that you need to add a bit more honey or nut butter, in that case. Always remember to check the ingredient list in your prepared foods for hidden allergens, too.
And since little kids are just pre-19-year-olds, this recipe is tailor-made for them as well, as they head back to school. You can size the balls up or down, depending on your little one's appetite, making them the perfect hand-held treat. Wrap them in parchment paper before you hop in the car to help keep that backseat free of sticky fingers, if such a thing is even possible.
On-the-go cereal balls
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups of your favorite cereal
3/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
3/4 cup nonfat powdered milk (see Chef's Note)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped dried fruit (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Lightly crush the cereal in a medium bowl, and then add the peanut butter, powdered milk, honey, dried fruit (if using), and vanilla. Mix until the cereal is evenly coated.
Use your hands to shape the mixture into 6 balls. Eat right away, or refrigerate, covered, until ready to eat.
Chef's Note: Powdered milk is made by dehydrating (removing the water from) liquid milk. This form of milk has many uses, but in a recipe like this, it helps hold all of the pieces together. You can find powdered milk at your grocery store.
Nutrition information per serving: 379 calories; 161 calories from fat; 18 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 2 mg cholesterol; 228 mg sodium; 50 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 34 g sugar; 11 g protein.
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
I recently became obsessed with these little crustless quiches.
They're more frittata, but everyone who eats them likens them to quiche. However defined, they are quick and easy to prepare and can be filled with any of your favorite cheese, vegetable and/or meat combos.
Make sure that your vegetables are sauteed before filling the muffin tins, and any meat such as sausage and bacon is cooked. The short baking time will melt the cheese and set the eggs but not cook any of your add-ins. Since there is no crust to make, these are perfect egg bites for anyone who is watching their carbs or is gluten sensitive. But the real reason to make them is that they taste great.
These "egg muffins" are perfect for entertaining and any leftovers turn a grab-and-go breakfast into a treat. In fact, I sometimes make them just to have on hand for quick weekday breakfasts. My favorite version so far includes asparagus, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and brie as I've included in this recipe. I add pimentos and green onions for flavor and color and tend to keep them in the mix regardless of what other ingredients I choose. The great thing about baking these eggs in a muffin tin is that you can customize them for your guests. For example, you can add ham or some other meat to half of them for the meat lovers and keep half all veggies for the non-meat eaters in your group. They also offer instant portion control and are simple to serve — all you need do is bake, place in a basket or on a platter and serve.
Plus, they are a sight to behold when they are baking. At the end of the baking time, they puff up like a souffle. As they cool, they do deflate a bit but that short thrill makes the eating all the more exciting.
Baked muffin frittatas with asparagus and mushrooms
Servings: 12
Start to finish: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
10 eggs
cup cream
teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of nutmeg
Butter or olive oil to coat pans
1 cup asparagus, chopped
1 heaping cup thinly sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
cup thinly sliced green onion
cup chopped pimentos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
pound brie cheese, cut into 12 pieces
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup. Whisk the eggs, cream, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
Melt butter in a saute pan and add asparagus and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until beginning to soften but the asparagus is still bright green.
Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with olive oil. Divide asparagus, mushrooms, green onion, and cheese between each muffin cup, then carefully pour egg mixture over tops until muffin tins are almost full (leave 1/4-inch space).
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
The egg muffins will look like a souffl when they come out of the oven, but they will fall after a few minutes. Let them rest in the muffin tin for a few minutes before using a rubber spatula to carefully remove each muffin. Place on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes to let the steam dissipate.
Enjoy immediately or let cool and transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag.
Refrigerate for up to three days. They can be eaten cold or reheated in a microwave.
Nutrition information per serving: 199 calories; 144 calories from fat; 16 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 220 mg cholesterol; 336 mg sodium; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 12 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Despite its name, this "omelet" is nothing like the filling-stuffed egg dish you expect at brunch, nor does it take a day to bake. This cheesy, golden, puffed casserole is all about the eggs, consisting of a rich custard, bread, and cheese and yielding a melt-in-your-mouth texture that rivals even the fluffiest scrambled eggs.
The eggs should be this dish's focus, not the bread, so to keep their flavor at the fore, we prepared a milk-based custard. Buttered white bread, cut into bite-size pieces and layered with tangy cheddar cheese in a baking dish, promised to melt right into the custard while also bringing in plenty of richness.
A small amount of grated onion and a bit of dry mustard and hot sauce added just enough complexity to the creamy eggs. Refrigerating the assembled omelet overnight melded the flavors and saturated the bread, so all we had to do before brunch was bake it.
Cheesy and golden, this humble casserole puffed impressively above the rim of the baking dish, making it a tempting but unfussy centerpiece. Use the large holes of a box grater to grate the onion.
The omelet needs to sit in the refrigerator, well covered, for at least 8 hours in order to achieve the desired consistency.
24-hour omelet
Servings: 6-8
Start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus 8 hours chilling time)
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
10 slices hearty white sandwich bread
12 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)
8 large eggs
3 cups whole milk
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Grease 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spread butter evenly over 1 side of bread slices, then cut into 1 inch pieces. Scatter half of bread evenly in prepared dish and sprinkle with half of cheddar. Repeat with remaining bread and cheese.
Whisk eggs, milk, onion, salt, pepper, mustard, and hot sauce together in bowl until well combined. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread and press lightly on bread to submerge. Wrap dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 F. Unwrap casserole and bake until puffed and golden, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.
Variations:
- 24-hour "omelet" with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella: Substitute mozzarella cheese for cheddar. Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry and chopped, between 2 layers of bread in step 1. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro over top before serving.
- 24-hour "omelet" with pepper jack and chipotle chile: Substitute pepper Jack cheese for cheddar and 2 to 3 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce for dry mustard and hot sauce. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro over top before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 442 calories; 247 calories from fat; 28 g fat (14 g saturated; 1 g trans fats);279 mg cholesterol; 860 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 23 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like 24-Hour Omelet in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Margaret Button, The Berkshire Eagle
Through the years, I have become obsessed with coffee. Not only needing it within 10 minutes of waking up, but the coffees themselves and how they're brewed. It seems like I'm on a constant search for the just-right coffeemaker and method.
My kitchen counter has an array of coffee makers — a Keurig single-brew maker with a cappuccino/latte frother, a drip coffee maker that makes just enough coffee to fill my rather large commuter coffee cup and a glass French press coffee maker. And let's not forget the coffee bean grinder ...
Due to time constraints, I use the Keurig when I have to dash out the door to work. Two pods, two cycles and I'm out the door. The lattes and cappuccinos are best saved for the weekend, when I have time to savor them. And the French press is for those days when nothing will do but several very strong, caffeine-full, dark roast cups of coffee.
My favorite coffee is Jamaican Blue Mountain, which I cajole my Jamaican-bound friends into bringing back for me, and which I reserve for special occasions. The best I've ever had came from a little shack, oddly enough called the Blue Mountain Coffee Shop in Negril, owned by a lovely young woman named LaToya, who roasted the beans herself in a tin drum over an open fire behind the shop.
I've never met a coffee I didn't love — and my pantry and counter attests to that. There are at least eight containers of coffee — beans, ground and K-cups — next to the coffeemakers, and more hidden out of sight. Flavored coffees, decaf coffee, dark roast coffee, coffee from Jamaica, coffee from Hawaii, coffee from everywhere ...
My son, David, also a Jamaican Blue Mountain aficionado, introduced me to cold brew coffee, which is made similar to sun tea, only minus the sun. The ground coffee steeps in water overnight, strained and then consumed. I came across this recipe for vanilla cinnamon iced coffee, which I really like, despite the fact I don't use sugar in my coffee.
VANILLA CINNAMON ICED COFFEE
INGREDIENTS:
Iced coffee:
1 1/2 cups ground strong coffee
8 cups water
Ice
2 teaspoons vanilla cinnamon syrup, to taste (recipe below)
Half-and-half, to taste
Vanilla cinnamon syrup:
1 cup extra fine granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean, sliced open vertically
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Iced coffee:
Add coffee grounds and water to a large pitcher. Stir. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight for up to 12 hours. Strain mixture through a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Discard leftover coffee grounds. Store coffee in fridge until ready to use.
Fill a large glass with ice cubes. Add coffee, vanilla syrup, and half-and-half. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or vanilla cinnamon syrup as needed.
Vanilla cinnamon syrup:
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add sugar, water and vanilla bean. Bring to a roiling boil and remove from heat. Let cool, then stir in vanilla extract and cinnamon.
Pour syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove any vanilla bean pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- By America's Test Kitchen
When making these delicious breakfast tacos, there are two ways to cook bacon.
One is the oven, the best way to cook bacon for a crowd. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange strips of bacon (as much as 1 pound) on foil (slices can overlap slightly). Place baking sheet in oven and bake until bacon is browned and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes. Baking sheet (and grease) will be very hot! Carefully transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Then there's the stovetop: Place 4 strips of bacon in 12-inch skillet (regular or nonstick) and add 1/2 cup water. Turn heat to high. When water comes to boil, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and keep cooking until bacon is crispy and golden brown on first side, about 2 minutes. Use tongs to flip bacon and cook until crispy and golden brown on second side, about 2 minutes. Transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels to drain.
BREAKFAST TACOS WITH BACON
Servings: 2-4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
PREPARE INGREDIENTS:
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 slice bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 scallion, sliced thin
4 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 lime, cut into wedges
GATHER COOKING EQUIPMENT:
Medium bowl
Whisk
10-inch nonstick skillet
Rubber spatula
Microwave-safe plate
Dish towel
START COOKING!
In medium bowl, whisk eggs, salt, and pepper until well combined and uniform yellow color, about 1 minute. Set aside.
In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally with rubber spatula until crispy, about 4 minutes.
Stir scallion into skillet and cook until just softened, about 1 minute.
Add eggs to skillet and gently stir, scraping bottom of skillet, until eggs have clumped and are still slightly wet, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and slide skillet to cool burner.
Stack tortillas on microwave-safe plate, cover with damp dish towel, and heat in microwave until warm, about 20 seconds.
Divide egg mixture evenly among warm tortillas. Serve with salsa, cheese and lime wedges.
Nutrition information per serving: 220 calories; 93 calories from fat; 10 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 223 mg cholesterol;737 mg sodium; 20 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 12 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Tacos in "The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs ."
___
America's Test Kitchen provided this article to The Associated Press.
- By America's Test Kitchen
This bread pudding is earthy, comforting, and perfect for a relaxed brunch at home.
To make sure this casserole came out rich and satisfying but not overbearing, we chose leaner (but still flavorful) turkey sausage instead of pork and banned soggy bread by toasting torn baguette slices, enriching their flavor and ensuring they would stand up to the custard.
To add even more depth to the pudding while further preventing a wet texture, we microwaved kale with some aromatics and oil to jump-start its cooking and eliminate excess water in our finished dish.
We stirred the toasted bread into a simple custard, prepared with 3 parts cream to 2 parts milk for measured richness. To prevent curdling, we stabilized the custard by using just yolks rather than the traditional whole eggs.
Once the bread had absorbed some of the custard and the kale was mixed in, we layered the custard-bread mixture with sausage and topped it all off with Parmesan. From there, all we had to do was bake it, covered at first to set the filling and then uncovered for the last 20 minutes to generate some appealing browning.
Savory bread pudding with turkey sausage and kale
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 2 hours
INGREDIENTS:
1 (18-to-20 inch) baguette, torn into 1 inch pieces (10 cups)
1 pound kale, stemmed and chopped
4 shallots, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
8 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 pound turkey sausage, casings removed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 F. Arrange bread in even layer in 13-by-9 inch baking dish. Bake, stirring occasionally, until bread is crisp and browned, about 12 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 F.
Meanwhile, combine kale, shallots, garlic, and oil in bowl and microwave, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted, about 5 minutes. Wrap kale mixture in clean dish towel and wring tightly to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Whisk cream, milk, egg yolks, and mustard together in large bowl. Stir in toasted bread and drained kale mixture until well combined.
Spray now-empty baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Pour half of bread mixture into prepared dish. Crumble half of sausage into 1/2 inch pieces over top. Top with remaining bread mixture and remaining sausage. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Cover tightly with greased aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until custard is just set and top is browned, about 20 minutes.
Remove dish from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chives before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 809 calories; 554 calories from fat; 62 g fat (34 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 462 mg cholesterol; 657 mg sodium; 41 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 12 g sugar; 27 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Savory Bread Pudding with Turkey Sausage and Kale in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Combine the rich layers of a croissant with the sweet swirls of a cinnamon bun and you'll have one of our favorite brunch pastries: morning buns.
For a simpler route to a yeasted, croissant-like pastry, we added a packet of yeast to a quick puff pastry dough. We created long, thin pieces of flake-producing butter by adding chilled butter to the dry ingredients in a zipper-lock bag and rolling over it with a rolling pin. Orange zest and juice offered sweet, citrusy brightness.
We started our rolls in a hot oven for a rapid rise but later dropped the temperature to impart gradual, even browning. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it's firm enough to easily handle. Unrisen buns can be refrigerated for at least 16 hours or up to 24 hours; let buns sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.
Morning buns
Servings: 12
Start to finish: 1 hour, 30 minutes (not including 1 hour, 15 minutes to 1 hour, 45 minutes freezing and rising time)
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
21/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices and chilled
1 cup sour cream, chilled
1/4 cup orange juice, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg yolk
Filling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS;
For the dough Combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in 1 gallon zipper-lock bag. Add butter to bag, seal, and shake to coat. Press air out of bag and reseal. Roll over bag several times with rolling pin, shaking bag after each roll, until butter is pressed into large flakes.
Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in sour cream, orange juice, ice water, and egg yolk with wooden spoon until combined. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds.
Press and roll dough into 20 by 12 inch rectangle, with short side parallel to counter edge. Roll dough away from you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.
With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 12-by-4 inch rectangle. Transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with greased plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 minutes.
For the filling: Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners and spray with vegetable oil spray. Combine all ingredients in bowl. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and roll into 20-by-12 inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, leaving 1/2 inch border around edges, and press lightly to adhere.
Roll dough away from you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Pinch seam closed, then reshape cylinder as needed to be 20 inches in length with uniform thickness.
Using serrated knife, trim 1/2 inch dough from each end and discard. Cut cylinder into 12 pieces and place cut side up in muffin cups. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 11/2 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Bake until buns begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 F. Continue to bake until buns are deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let buns cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and discard liners. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per serving: 431 calories; 238 calories from fat; 27 g fat (17 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 84 mg cholesterol; 160 mg sodium; 44 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 19 g sugar; 4 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Morning Buns in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Francesca Olsen, Eagle correspondent
I have a confession to make. All those nice, local-food-inspired dinners I generally write about are great, but I am fueled every day by a divine and simple ingredient you can get at any grocery store: Oatmeal. Not even any special oatmeal, either. The $2.99 tube of unflavored quick oats. Yes, I said quick oats.
I've been meaning to write an oatmeal column for quite a while, and I routinely tweet about oatmeal with the hashtags #notgrueltome and #oatlife. So far, the two major oat producers I tag in every oat-related tweet have not responded. Not even a like.
I once had a great idea for an all-oatmeal restaurant to the tune of Chipotle, where you go in and customize plain oatmeal with amazing and healthy ingredients. (A former partner once told me this was too reminiscent of a bread line during the Great Depression. I disagree.)
Listen: Oats are not boring. They are not depressing. They provide 77 percent of your daily iron. One cup of cooked oatmeal (that's a half cup dry) is 158 calories. They are a good source of Vitamin B-6 (35 percent of your daily needs). They've got calcium (18 percent) and protein (6 grams! 12 percent!). That is an excellent breakfast base right there.
But this is a recipe column, so we're going to take that base and explore all the wonderful, and still very healthy, things you can do with it. In the fall, after making six or seven pints of apple butter, I stir one tablespoon into my oats every morning with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I am half convinced the molasses from the apple butter is keeping away winter sickness. Sometimes, I cut the water with coconut milk, which makes oatmeal rich and silky. Neither of these options add much in the way of calories, and both add nutrition.
So please, hear me out. Ditch your weird, pre-processed breakfast bar with God-knows-what-kind of fruit. Kick that muffin (that is really a morning cupcake) to the curb. Say no to a greasy breakfast sandwich laden with cholesterol. If you never eat breakfast, eat oatmeal for a week and see how good and strong you feel — and how much less hungry you are come lunch time. Take breakfast back, and go to work with a zip-lock bag full of dry oats and a bowl and spoon, if necessary.
It's not fancy, but it makes good sense — and one of those $2.99 tubes will keep you oat-rich for about a month, which is far cheaper than any other breakfast option I can think of. #oatlife.
Oats for the barely awake working professional
INGREDIENTS:
cup of oatmeal ( if you're extra hungry)
cup water (or one cup — two parts water, one part oats is the rule)
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon apple butter or 2 teaspoons brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Mix oats and water in bowl, then microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds. (I use quick oats but regular oats microwave just as well.) Stir in peanut butter and sweetener until fully combined. Eat as your morning coffee restores your brain function. Bask in the simple nutrition you have given yourself.
KICK IT UP A NOTCH: AMAZING OAT ADDITIONS
You can really add anything to a bowl of oatmeal. Some people are on a savory trend, but I stick to sweet. It reminds me of the sickeningly, maddeningly sweet cereal advertised to me as a child in the 1990s. Try one wet ingredient with one dry, or go crazy and make an Instagram-worthy oat bowl with 75 ingredients. It's for your health!
Wet ingredients
- Coconut milk: sub half the water
- Actual milk: Sub half the water
- Almond or cashew milk: of the water, since these milks are lower in calories and less thick overall
- Jams and jellies: Start with 2 tbsp, and customize to your own sweet tooth
- Honey: 2 tbsp
- Maple syrup: 1 tbsp (go light on maple syrup, which is also packed with minerals and is super-sweet)
- Other sweeteners like agave syrup
Dry ingredients
- Shredded, unsweetened coconut (or sweetened — just don't add too much sugar)
- Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter (almond butter is my favorite, but expensive)
- Chia seeds: 1 tsp
- Hemp seed: 1 tsp
- Any dried fruit — raisins, cranberries, even dried apricots chopped up
- Any fresh or frozen fruit (microwave first if frozen) but especially strawberries, blueberries, blackberries
- A whole banana (amazing with peanut butter and you barely need to add sugar)
- Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
- Cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg: A dusting of each makes a chai-esque flavor, amazing when paired with coconut milk
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
Long before I knew that the origin of breakfast tacos were a hotly debated topic, I was eating them and loving them. I had my first breakfast taco many years ago in Houston and have enjoyed many more in Austin, Texas. But, I am not about to give birthright credit to any particular city in because I am fairly certain that Mexican immigrants all grew up with their mother's version of "breakfast tacos."
The beauty of the tortilla is that it makes normal fork and knife foods like scrambled eggs (and pork barbecue, steak, fish, etc.), portable. And, regardless of where you had your first breakfast taco, if you are like me, you crave them and must make them yourself at home.
I am a "no beans and no rice" kind of girl and prefer my breakfast tacos like my favorite egg sandwich but rolled, or folded over in a flour tortilla. To me, the essential ingredients must be cheesy eggs, a dash of hot sauce and cool slices of ripe avocado. I love bacon and prefer to serve it on the side where it stays crisp — but feel free to add it into the eggs. Not many places add slices of avocado unless you ask for it, but for me, the avocado is what makes it a Tex-Mex breakfast taco instead of just eggs in a tortilla.
When I have tomatoes and white onions on hand, I add those to my cheesy eggs and I am one happy girl. I like breakfast tacos so much that I have been known to have them for lunch and or dinner as well.
The truth is that you can put any of your favorite cheese and egg add-ins in your breakfast taco. In Texas, the potato, egg and cheese combo reigns king as does the classic eggs and bacon. If you are a fan of chorizo, chorizo and crispy potatoes make a perfect match especially with some blistered poblano peppers thrown in for good measure.
Breakfast tacos
Servings: 8
Start to finish: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and cooked, optional or serve whole slices on the side
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed on a griddle
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 small white onion, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
8 large eggs
1 cup white cheddar or Monterey Jack with jalapenos, shredded
1 avocado, thinly sliced for serving
Hot sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain (do not pour off fat from skillet).
Using a large non-stick skillet, add 2 tablespoons of butter and onions to skillet and cook, stirring often, until translucent and tender, 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove skillet from heat.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl to blend; add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the nonstick skillet over medium heat and let melt. Pour eggs in evenly over the tomatoes and onions. Cook eggs, stirring occasionally to mix in onions and tomatoes, and scraping bottom of skillet with a heatproof spatula or fork to form large curds, about 1-2 minutes. Add cheese and stir to mix in and finish cooking. Do not increase the heat to cook everything faster or the eggs may burn.
Remove eggs from heat and mix in bacon if using or serve on the side.
Fill tortillas with cheesy egg mixture and top with avocado. Serve with hot sauce.
Nutrition information per serving: 354 calories; 191 calories from fat; 21 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 244 mg cholesterol; 428 mg sodium; 27 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 15 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
By ALISON LADMAN
Associated Press
Ready to get retro with your baked goodies? How about a batch of do-it-yourself toaster pastries?
They are easier than you think. After all, the ones you buy are nothing more than two sheets of (not particularly good) pastry dough sandwiching a sugary filling. Plus, doing them at home lets you customize the glaze and the filling. We went with a brown sugar-cinnamon filling and glaze on ours, but you could substitute any jam if you'd prefer a fruit filling. You also could ditch the glaze and sprinkle the top with coarse sugar before baking.
Once they are baked, store the pastries at room temperature for three to four days. Alternatively, for an easy do-ahead breakfast, freeze the assembled pastries on the baking sheet prior to baking. Once frozen, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to three months. They can be baked as needed; add just a few extra minutes to the oven time.
Cinnamon-brown sugar pastry tarts
Start to finish: 2 hours
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
For the pastry dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
For the glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 drops cinnamon oil (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
Directions:
To make the pastry, in a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter cubes into the flour until the mixture looks mostly like coarse meal but with some pieces as large as peas.
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, water and vanilla until smooth. Pour the liquid into the butter-flour mixture and stir together first with a wooden spoon, then with your hands, mixing until a cohesive dough forms. Use a little bit of extra flour on your hands if the mixture is too moist. Pat the dough into two 8-by-5-inch rectangles that are about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Add the egg and melted butter and stir until thoroughly mixed. Cover, refrigerate and set aside.
When the dough is chilled, heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment.
On a counter lightly dusted with flour, roll 1 piece of the dough out to a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Use a paring knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 3-by-5 inches each. Arrange the pieces on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between them. These will be the bottoms of the pastries. Divide the filling among the bottoms, using about 2 teaspoons of filling per pastry. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border all the way around.
Roll the second piece of the dough out to a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Use a paring knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 3-by-5 inches each. Top each pastry with one of the dough pieces, lining up the edges with the bottoms. Use your fingers to crimp the edges all the way around. Use a knife tip to poke a few vent holes through the center of the tops of the pastries so steam can escape. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. It's a good idea to gently lift a pastry with a spatula to check that the bottoms are lightly browned as well. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze, in a small saucepan over medium, combine both sugars, the milk and cinnamon. Heat until the sugars are dissolved. Drizzle over the finished pastries.
Nutrition information per serving: 410 calories; 180 calories from fat (44 percent of total calories); 20 g fat (12 g saturated; 0.5 g trans fats); 105 mg cholesterol; 190 mg sodium; 53 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 28 g sugar; 5 g protein.
- By Robin Anish
Barbecue grills are fired up and there is some good eating going on in the Berkshires and Southern Vermont.
Burgers and hot dogs, steaks and slow-roasted cuts of brisket and pork shoulders slathered with sticky, spicy-sweet sauces are classic fare for a backyard barbecue.
But, how about firing up the grill while the morning coffee brews and head outdoors to grill up a hearty breakfast?
FRENCH TOAST ON THE GRILL
INGREDIENTS:
6 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
Loaf of sturdy bread such as challah, brioche or artisan-style, cut into eight 1-inch slices
Butter and maple syrup for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Gradually whisk in half-and-half until thoroughly blended.
Preheat grill to medium heat. Lightly oil grill grates.
Dip bread slices in egg mixture until saturated. Arrange on grill, close lid and cook 3 minutes. Flip and grill for about 3 minutes longer or until the French toast is cooked through.
Serve with butter and maple syrup.
***
Opposites attract, and this savory grilled ham paired with the sweet French toast complement each other deliciously!
GRILLED SMOKED HAM
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
fully cooked center-cut smoked ham slice, about 1 inch thick
DIRECTIONS:
Combine syrup, brown sugar and pepper. Brush on ham slice and grill alongside French toast until heated through.
***
GRILLED HOME FRIES
INGREDIENTS:
5 potatoes sliced 1/8 inch
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat. Spread a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil on a work surface. Arrange potatoes, onion, bacon and garlic in the middle of the foil. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap foil around potato mixture to form a packet.
Place packet on grill and cook until potatoes are tender and bacon is cooked, about 15 minutes.
***
Fresh fruit, skewered and grilled until the juices caramelize, round out this grilled breakfast menu.
GRILLED FRUIT KEBABS
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoon butter, melted
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
teaspoon ground cinnamon
Mixed fresh, but firm, ripe fruits cut into 1" chunks. Bananas, nectarines, peeled peaches, cantaloupe or whole strawberries are great choices.
Wooden skewers soaked in enough water to cover for 30 minute
Greek yogurt to serve
DIRECTIONS:
Alternately thread pieces of fruit on skewers.
In a small bowl, combine melted butter, honey and lime juice. Brush on kabobs.
Grill over medium heat about 5 minutes until heated through and fruit begins to caramelize. Brush any remaining glaze over fruit while cooking.
Serve with a spoonful of good quality vanilla or plain Greek yogurt.
Happy grilling!
Made by slow cooking apples mixed with autumn-favorite spices like cinnamon and allspice, apple butter is a highly concentrated jam-like spread filled to the brim with apple flavors. It’s essentially fall in a jar, and incredibly easy to make. All you need is some basic spices, a slow-cooker, blender or immersion blender and a lot of apples, which most of us have judging from all the masked-orchard selfies popping up all over social media.
If you’re worried about which apples to use when making apple butter, don’t. The basic recipe is pretty forgiving and can be tweaked based on personal preference. When asked what kind of apples work best for this recipe, Gail Houle, manager of Cortland Hill Orchard in Brattleboro, Vt., suggested her orchard’s namesake: “Cortlands are great because they are a soft apple with good flavor and take less time to cook.”
Softer apple varieties are recommended because they cook down faster, needing less time in the Crockpot and holding on to more flavor. Other varieties worth trying include Fuji, Golden Delicious and Idared. You can also mix different varieties together.
My family hit the orchards twice this fall, and after we’d gotten our fill of apple crisp, chunky applesauce, pie and dumplings, I turned to my trusty Crockpot to help me use up the stray apples rolling around my cool mudroom floor. After a long, delightful-smelling day of cooking down the apples while I worked from home, I was left with about five to six pints of apple butter, which I promptly canned. But now, instead of wondering what to do with all these apples, I’m left with all this apple butter. A good problem to have, of course, but still a kitchen conundrum.
I grabbed my favorite kitchen tool that always helps turn my leftovers, extra produce or veggies into a new vehicle of breakfast or snack food to be consumed by the boys in my house: muffin tins. I tinkered with a few recipes for Apple Quick Breads and came to find this variation on a New York Times recipe worked best for morning snack time at my son’s preschool. I reduced the sugar, used only white flour (though, you can use 1 cup of whole wheat and 1/2 cup of all-purpose if you’d like) and made the loaf-pan recipe into muffins.
The result is a perfectly moist, just-sweet enough muffin that tastes every bit of fall as it’s darkly rich apple butter main ingredient. If you’re looking to add extras, don’t be afraid to throw in 1/2 cup of raisins or even caramel bits if you’re feeling festive.
APPLE BUTTER MUFFINS
Yield: 12 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ cup apple butter
¼ cup plain yogurt
Turbinado sugar, as needed, for finishing
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350 F, and lightly grease 12 muffin tins. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the oil and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk well after each addition to incorporate. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
Add the flour mixture and stir just to combine. The batter will be thick at this point. Add the apple butter and yogurt and mix well to incorporate. Pour the batter into the muffin tins.
If using, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 23 minutes.
SLOW-COOKER APPLE BUTTER
Yield: about 6 pints
INGREDIENTS:
12 apples, peeled, cored and cut into small cubes
2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
DIRECTIONS:
Combine apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, salt and cloves in a slow cooker. Cook on high until the apples are tender enough to mash with a fork (about 4 to 6 hours). Puree apple mixture with an immersion blender, or in a blender, but be careful when blend hot liquids.
- By Francesca Olsen, Eagle Correspondent
In the past, my January food columns have focused on healthy meals, designed to help you rebound from excessive and indulgent holiday eating. We’re ... not doing that this year.
I’ll totally be making healthy dinners (and lunches) this month, but do you really need me to offer you healthy options right now? No, you don’t. We still have plenty of reasons to be eating our feelings. So here’s a recipe for small-batch cinnamon rolls — just one portion of an unhealthy dessert — about six small rolls.
From-scratch cinnamon rolls are best fresh, anyway. I made these on New Year’s Eve and my husband and I ate the whole pan, allowing us a fresh start for the new year.
SMALL-BATCH CINNAMON ROLLS
(Adapted from Stresscake)
Makes 5 to 6 rolls
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon warm water
7 tablespoons almond milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil for greasing bowl
For the filling:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
For the icing:
1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon almond milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS:
Make the dough and first rise: Let yeast bloom in warm water for 5 minutes or until foamy. Best to do this in the bowl you’ll be using to mix. Once yeast blooms, add all other dough ingredients and mix until a dough forms and nothing is sticking to the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 1 to 2 minutes. (This is a really nice dough and you probably won’t need the entire 2 minutes before it’s smooth and elastic.)
Grease a bowl with a splash of vegetable oil and add dough, cover tightly with plastic wrap or tinfoil, and let rise at least 1 hour.
Make the filling: Mix together butter, sugars, cinnamon and salt. If butter is too stiff, you can microwave the ingredients for 10 seconds to soften and help everything become homogenous. Don’t go longer than this; you want a smooth paste, not a liquid.
Once dough has risen to the point where it has doubled in size, roll out on a lightly floured surface until it’s approximately 10 inches by 12 inches. Spread filling on your 10x12 rectangle, leaving around 1/2 to 1 inch of the longer edge naked/without filling.
Starting with the 12-inch side of your dough that has filling spread to the edge, fold over 1/2-inch to start rolling, then roll your dough into a log. Brush a little water along the edge of the dough to seal — just a few drops. Cut your log into six equal pieces.
Liberally butter a small baking dish (I used a 6-inch circular aluminum pan) or muffin tin and place cinnamon rolls in the dish, then cover tightly with plastic and let rise again, at least an hour or until rolls have about doubled in size.
Mix frosting ingredients together, and microwave for 10 seconds if things aren’t coming together smoothly. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake 18 to 22 minutes, until rolls are just golden brown (or further if you like them a bit toasty). Let cool completely before frosting.
- By Meggie Baker, The Berkshire Eagle
These days, we're all spending much more time at home and looking for ways to use up our new excess of free time. Muffins are a great quick-and-easy project, even for novice bakers just joining the post pandemic baking wave (or parents looking to distract stuck-at-home kiddos for a few).
Muffins are the perfect transitional food: They work for breakfast, afternoon snacks or a treat after dinner.
SOUR CREAM MAPLE-WALNUT MUFFINS
These are lovely and light, golden brown inside with a nice dry crumble, very reminiscent of a scone. If you're not a huge maple fan, don't be wary — the flavor is delicate and understated. If you have nut allergies in your house, feel free to leave out the walnuts. I did, and they are still a winner.
Courtesy of delish.com
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
6 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons Vermont maple syrup
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place paper liners in 12 muffin cups.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.
In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and maple syrup.
On low speed, add half the dry ingredients to butter-sugar mixture. Pour in half the sour cream mixture. Add remaining dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with sour cream mixture. Beat until just blended.
In a small bowl, stir together walnuts, cinnamon and remaining 1 teaspoon granulated sugar.
Pour batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle top of each muffin with walnut mixture.
Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
SOURDOUGH CARROT MUFFINS
I came across this recipe for carrot cake a few weeks back when I was looking up new ways to use up my sourdough starter and decided to try to make them muffins. I was so pleased. Not only does it use up a lot of starter, but it's also moist and easy, and great on its own. But if you wanted to cover it with some cream cheese frosting and turn these muffins into cupcakes, I won't judge. Since this recipe is adapted from a full-sized cake recipe, be aware it makes a lot of muffins. Go to town, or freeze half the dough to bake next weekend.
Recipe from the King Arthur Flour recipe for Carrot Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed/discard
3 large eggs
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch pan, two 8-by-2-inch round pans or muffin tins if you're making muffins or cupcakes.
Combine the oil and sugar, and stir in the starter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Fold in the pineapple, carrots, walnuts, coconut and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring just to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the sides are just beginning to pull away from the edge of the pan.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
COMBINE:
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 to 4 tablespoons milk
BISQUICK BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
This recipe is an oldie and a goodie. I think it was first given to me by my Family Consumer Science teacher in eighth grade (a class focused on simple cooking and nutrition). You can see why it's a recipe you'd give to kids — there isn't a simpler recipe under the sun, and given that it uses no flour, now is its time to shine. If you're home quarantine baking and worrying over your depleting stock of dry goods, this is a great recipe to have under your hat. It's also endlessly customizable. Use whatever frozen or fresh berries you have. Add a little zest. Make it how you like it.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
3 /4 cup organic frozen blueberries
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 400 F. Grease or line a muffin tin.
Stir all ingredients except blueberries together, just until moistened. Fold in berries.
Divide batter evenly in nine muffin cups. Bake 13 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
- By Lindsey Hollenbaugh, The Berkshire Eagle
Even if we deserve it, not every morning can start off with a full-plated, farmer-style breakfast, complete with pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit. Some mornings — more so lately, it seems — require a fast, nutritious breakfast that you can eat on the go, in between conference calls and setting up your kids' virtual classroom meetings.
Enter the humble breakfast bar.
But wait, I'm not talking about those sugar-filled, prepackaged bars you spend loads of money on to only get six carb-loaded bricks that are gone within days, or left in the bottom of backpacks. Homemade breakfast bars can be super simple to make and adaptable to your family's tastes. And, most importantly, delicious.
My 5-year-old son often comments when I make any version of these, "You know what would taste great in these, mama? Chocolate chips!" And he's not wrong (because, honestly, don't chocolate chips make everything taste better?) So, sometimes I throw in chocolate chips, or clean out my pantry and use up bits of dried fruit laying around in bags hiding behind the extra jars of peanut butter.
My husband works outside our home right now, and often has to leave early in the morning, grabbing a few bars wrapped in parchment paper for the road. I sometimes don't realize I haven't had breakfast while working from home (something I'm hearing others are doing a lot lately, too) so having these on hand for that 10:30 a.m. stomach grumble keeps me from grabbing a handful of Pirate Booty as I dash through the kitchen.
Oatmeal Applesauce Bars are a great way to use up homemade apple sauce that never seems to get fully eaten in my house. Or, I'm sure jar sauce will work just as well. If your applesauce isn't sugar-free consider adjusting the sugar in the recipe so the bars aren't too sweet. And five-ingredient Homemade Granola Bars are super simple and adaptable to what you have on hand. Warning: While extremely easy to make, the recipe is sticky. So, you'll want to clean up your dishes right after, or at least let everything soak in good, hot, soapy water.
OATMEAL APPLESAUCE BARS
Recipe courtesy of Food in Jars
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups rolled oats, divided
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, melted
Optional add-ins: 1 cup toasted pecans, walnuts or almonds, toasted
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13-by-9-inch pan with nonstick spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving the paper ends protruding to so that it hangs on two opposite sides.
In a food processor, combine 1 1/2 cups of the oats, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Process until the oats are broken down, which only takes a few minutes. Add the eggs, applesauce, brown sugar, and melted butter and process just until the ingredients are well-mixed.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats and the toasted nuts if you are using them, and pulse five or six times, until the mixture is just combined.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the tops are a golden brown, the corners have begun to pull away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove the oat slab from the oven and let it cool completely before removing from the pan. Once it is cool, use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Slice into 12 equal bars with a serrated knife.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Or wrap the bars individually and freeze in Ziplock bags.
***
HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS
Recipe courtesy of Minimalist Baker
INGREDIENTS:
1 heaping cup packed dates (pitted)
1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup if making vegan)
1/4 cup creamy salted peanut butter or almond butter
1 cup roasted unsalted almonds (loosely chopped)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
Optional add-ins: Chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, banana chips, vanilla
DIRECTIONS:
Process dates in a food processor until small bits remain (about 1 minute). It should form a "dough" like consistency, which basically means rolls into a ball.
Optional: Toast your oats (and almonds if raw) in a 350-degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Make sure to watch these as toasted goes to burnt rather quickly.
Place oats, almonds and dates in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat, again watching closely as honey can burn quickly. Stir and pour over oat mixture and then mix, breaking up the dates to disperse throughout. This will take a few minutes and the consistency will be closer to clumps than one large mixture.
Once thoroughly mixed, transfer to an 8-by-8-inch baking dish or other small pan lined with plastic wrap or parchment paper so they lift out easily.
Press down firmly until uniformly flattened. To keep your hands from sticking to the mixture, use extra parchment paper on your hands when pushing down.
Cover with parchment or plastic wrap, and let firm up in fridge or freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove bars from pan and chop into 10 even bars. Store in an airtight container for a few days, or freeze.
- By America's Test Kitchen
Pancakes are a blank canvas, so bring out your inner artist. You can work your magic at the table with maple syrup, honey, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon sugar, fresh fruit and/or softened butter. Or you can cook your artistry right into the pancakes by adding chocolate chips, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, sliced bananas, or raspberries instead of the blueberries. Use 1 tablespoon of add-ins per pancake. Have fun and try your own combinations.
Pancakes 101: If you have an electric griddle, it's perfect for this recipe. Just set the griddle to 350 F. You should be able to make all eight pancakes in one batch. This recipe can be doubled if you want to cook for a big crowd. Follow this recipe with your kids.
ANYTIME FLUFFY BLUEBERRY PANCAKES
Serves 2-4 (Makes 8 pancakes)
Start to finish: 35 minutes (Active Time: 15 minutes)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil spray
1/2 cup blueberries
COOKING EQUIPMENT:
2 bowls (1 medium, 1 small)
Whisk
Rubber spatula
12-inch nonstick skillet
1/4-cup dry measuring cup
1 tablespoon measuring spoon
Spatula
Plate
DIRECTIONS:
In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In small bowl, whisk milk, egg, oil, and vanilla until well combined.
Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir gently with rubber spatula until just combined (batter should remain lumpy). Let batter sit for 10 minutes before cooking.
Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray and heat over medium heat until hot, about 1 minute.
Use 1/4-cup dry measuring cup to scoop 1/4 cup batter into skillet. Repeat 2 more times, leaving space between mounds of batter (you want 3 pancakes to cook up separate from one another).
Sprinkle each pancake with 1 tablespoon blueberries. Cook until bubbles on surface begin to pop, 2 to 3 minutes.
Use spatula to flip pancakes and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer pancakes to plate. Repeat with remaining batter in 2 more batches. Turn off heat. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 260 calories; 87 calories from fat; 10 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 58 mg cholesterol; 681 mg sodium; 37 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 10 g sugar; 6 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Blueberry Pancakes in "Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs ."
- By Robin Anish,
Kids keep you current.
I have my kids to thank for keeping me pretty well versed in music trends, fashion trends, the latest iPhone, social media in all its forms, memes, tweets, news, politics and what it means to go viral. Yes, I'm current with it all ... the good, bad and ugly.
The bad and ugly I just as soon forget about. The current good is that people are cooking and baking like never before and with that there are recipes and food trends that are going viral.
So, here's to my daughter for keeping me current with what's trending in the culinary world.
These are difficult times, so comfort foods are at the top of the list. Somewhat out of necessity, people are getting back into the kitchen, cooking up soups and stews, macaroni and cheese, pasta dishes, sweet baked goodies and anything their mom used to make.
Since running to the market has become inconvenient, if not unnerving, getting creative and cooking with what you have on hand is trending. It's also trendy to photograph and share dishes on Instagram.
Bread baking has become one of the most popular trends, particularly, sourdough bread. Even banana bread is making the rounds on social media. I can certainly understand that!
A copycat version of Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme is right up there too. Unfamiliar with a crunch wrap? It's a combination of a tostado and a burrito that consists of a flour tortilla folded into a hexagon over a spicy ground beef filling, a tostada shell, nacho cheese sauce, sour cream, diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce and then the whole thing is grilled. People are loving making it a home.
Fiercely flooding social media is a drink called dalgona. I had no clue what dalgona was until, of course, my daughter told me about it.
Dalgona is a coffee drink from South Korea made by whipping equal parts instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until it becomes a thick, caramel-like foam and then spooning it atop cold milk for a luscious presentation. The foam is then stirred into the milk and best sipped through a straw to prevent a dalgona mustache!
Dalgona is easy and fun to make. It's magical and unexpected to see the combination of coffee, sugar and water whip up into an ethereal mousse-like delight.
If you enjoy a strong cup of coffee, you will love this drink AND you will be on trend!
DALGONA
2 servings
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons instant coffee
4 tablespoons white sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
2 cups cold milk
ice cubes, if desired
Directions:
With an electric mixer, whip coffee, sugar and hot water until fluffy, stiff peaks form. Pour a cup of cold milk into each of two glasses and add ice. Spoon equal parts of mixture over the milk. Gently stir together and drink!
Be safe and be well everyone!
- By Robin Anish
I don't often eat toast. I like toast. I'm just not much of a breakfast person, so I suppose that's why I don't often eat toast. But, I've been craving toast lately.
My mother would always give me burnt toast to settle an upset stomach when I was a kid and I always felt better. Perhaps, it's the need for comfort during an uncomfortable time that is stimulating my toast craving.
I like my toast with lots of butter and marmalade. But, there are plenty of other delicious ways to gussy up toast. I found some great ideas to share that go way beyond just butter, jam or flavored cream cheese.
Lets start with ... I was going to say something the kids would love but, really, who wouldn't love butter, sugar and chocolate melted all over their toast?
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE TOAST
Butter slices of white or cinnamon bread. Sprinkle each with granulated sugar and chocolate chips as desired. Bake on a cookie sheet at 425 degrees F until bread is toasted and chocolate is just slightly melted. Watch carefully, burnt chocolate is not tasty.
***
Here's a good one for lunch, or top it off with a fried egg and call it brunch.
TOMATO-CHEDDAR TOAST
Cook and stir 1 tablespoon tomato paste in 1/2 stick butter over medium heat until it thickens a bit, about 2 to 3 minutes; add a good dash of Worcestershire sauce. Spread on 4 slices of toasted white or rye bread. Top with shredded sharp cheddar; broil until the cheese melts.
***
Another savory toast that would be great for lunch ...
FRENCH ONION TOAST
Slowly cook 2 large sliced onions in 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until cooked down and caramelized about 45 minutes; season with a dash of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Speed over 4 slices toasted white bread; top with shredded Gruyere or a favorite cheese. Broil until the cheese melts.
***
The kids will like mixing up this nutritious toast recipe:
PEANUT BUTTER, BANANA AND HONEY TOAST
DIRECTIONS:
1 banana, sliced
4 tablespoons all-natural peanut butter
1-2 tablespoons honey, to taste
a healthy pinch of cinnamon
INGREDIENTS:
In a small bowl, mash together peanut butter, honey, and banana until blended but with some bits of banana remaining. Spread on warm toast.
***
Everyone's favorite, cinnamon sugar toast, but with a little something extra, vanilla, a must ingredient according to The Pioneer Woman whose recipe this is.
CINNAMON SUGAR TOAST
INGREDIENTS:
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 slices white or wheat bread
DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine first four ingredients until smooth. Spread on slices of bread, completely covering the surface. Place bread on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes then broil briefly until golden brown and bubbling. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Cool slightly before eating; the sugar gets really hot.
Be well everyone and eat toast!
- By Robin Anish, Eagle Correspondent
I swear my father would have eaten my mother's strawberry shortcake every day of his life, if she would have let him! My mother also made the most amazing strawberry pie, but only in the early summer when the berries were fresh and local; and, again, my father would have eaten her strawberry pie every day of his life — if my mother would let him!
My father loved his strawberry desserts; then again, who doesn't? But, the window of opportunity for local strawberries is brief, too brief to just have them for dessert, especially when there are so many ways to enjoy them for breakfast!
Strawberries with cereal or in a smoothie make a great breakfast on busy mornings; but on those mornings when there is time to linger, how about a strawberry soufflé omelet or a strawberry breakfast taco.
Take advantage of the beautiful warm summer days in the Berkshires and southern Vermont, and start breakfast outdoors on the patio sipping this refreshing strawberry beverage.
FRESH STRAWBERRY BREAKFAST COOLER
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
10 ice cubes
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
Fresh mint leaves (optional garnish)
DIRECTIONS:
In a blender, combine strawberries, orange juice, ice cubes and sugar or honey. Blend until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses, garnish with mint and serve.
This a just a bit sweet and a bit savory, very light and delicious.
STRAWBERRY SOUFFLE OMELET
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar, divided
2 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
Confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS:
In bowl, combine strawberries, mint, vinegar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the granulated sugar; set aside.
In small bowl, whisk egg yolks with vanilla and remaining 2 teaspoons granulated sugar for 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
In bowl of electric mixer, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks.
With rubber spatula, gently fold yolks into whites just until no streaks remain. Do not over blend, so you don't deflate the egg whites.
In 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat, melt butter.
When butter is sizzling, add egg mixture, gently spreading it into an even layer with spatula. Cover pan; reduce heat to low. Cook omelet 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown on bottom and barely set on top.
Spoon strawberries down center of omelet; with spatula, fold omelet in half overfilling. Slide omelet onto plate; dust with confectioners' sugar to serve. This makes one large omelet that can be divided into two servings.
Of course, tacos for breakfast!
STRAWBERRY BREAKFAST TACO
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
6 soft flour tortillas (6 inches)
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1 3/4 cups sliced fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon butter over medium-low heat. Add one tortilla; cook each side until light golden, 1-2 minutes. Repeat with remaining butter and tortillas.
Beat together cream cheese and honey. Mix in yogurt until blended. Spread tortillas with cream cheese mixture. Arrange strawberries over one half of each tortilla then fold other half over berries.
Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle generously over each taco to serve.
STRAWBERRY PB&J FRENCH TOAST
(Courtesy of "A Taste of Home")
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup seedless strawberry jam
8 slices challah or sturdy white bread (1/2-inch thick)
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
ground cinnamon
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
5 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional maple syrup and sliced fresh strawberries
DIRECTIONS:
Spread jam over four slices of bread. Top with sliced strawberries; sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon. Spread peanut butter on remaining bread and place a slice over strawberries to make a sandwich.
Lightly grease a griddle or large skillet; heat over medium heat.
Whisk eggs, milk, 3 tablespoon syrup and vanilla until blended. Dip both sides of sandwiches in egg mixture, allowing each side to soak 10 seconds. Place sandwiches on griddle; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Serve with maple syrup and strawberry garnish.
- By America's Test Kitchen
Earthy spinach and nutty cheese star in this brunch-worthy strata.
Ideally, this savory make-ahead bread pudding should be rich enough to satisfy without being overindulgent. And, since strata is such a great make-ahead dish, it should also be straightforward to put together. Unfortunately, too many recipes for strata are soggy and laden with excessive custard and filling ingredients.
Looking to create a go-to breakfast or brunch casserole, we first considered the bread. Whole dried bread slices had the best texture and appearance, and buttering them added richness. Spinach, shallot, and Gruyere complemented each other perfectly for the filling, and we sauteed the vegetables to remove excess moisture and prevent the casserole from becoming waterlogged.
Weighting down the assembled strata overnight improved its texture; we found that two 1 pound boxes of brown or confectioners' sugar, laid side by side over the plastic wrap, made ideal weights.
One hour is minimum, but you could do it overnight to bake the strata the following morning. The recipe can be doubled and assembled in a greased 13-by 9-inch baking dish; increase the baking time to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Substitute any semisoft melting cheese, such as Havarti, sharp cheddar, or Colby for the Gruyere.
BREAKFAST STRATA WITH SPINACH AND GRUYERE
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 2 hours 15 minutes (plus 1 hour refrigeration time)
INGREDIENTS:
8-10 (1/2 inch-thick) slices French or Italian bread
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 shallots, minced
Salt and pepper
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
1 3/4 cups half-and-half
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 225 F. Arrange bread in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry and crisp, about 40 minutes, flipping slices halfway through baking. Let bread cool slightly, then spread 2 tablespoons butter evenly over 1 side of bread slices.
Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and pinch salt and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes; transfer to bowl. Add wine to now-empty skillet and simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 3 minutes; set aside to cool.
Grease 8-inch square baking dish. Arrange half of bread slices, buttered side up, in single layer in dish. Sprinkle half of spinach mixture and 1/2 cup Gruyere over top. Repeat with remaining bread, remaining spinach mixture, and 1/2 cup Gruyere to make second layer.
Whisk eggs, reduced wine, half-and-half, 1 teaspoon salt, and pinch pepper together in bowl, then pour evenly over top of bread and cheese in dish. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it flush to surface. Weight down strata and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 F. Meanwhile, let strata sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Unwrap strata and top with remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere. Bake until edges and center are puffed and edges have pulled away slightly from sides of dish, 50 to 55 minutes. Let casserole cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 547 calories; 276 calories from fat; 31 g fat (17 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 292 mg cholesterol; 930 mg sodium; 40 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 8 g sugar; 24 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Strata with Spinach and Gruyere in "Vegetables Illustrated ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Although it sounds like a bad Saturday morning commercial (Pizza?! For breakfast?!!), it turns out breakfast pizza is just a creative version of the classic bread-eggs-cheese-meat combo.
It makes an ideal dish for a brunch crowd and isn't difficult if you start with store-bought pizza dough. Our challenge was getting a crisp crust without overcooking the eggs. To get there, we pressed room-temperature dough into a lightly oiled baking sheet and parbaked it for 5 minutes to give the crust a head start before we added the toppings. The remaining minutes in the oven cooked the eggs just right.
The surprising addition of cottage cheese tethered all the ingredients together with a silky creaminess. Room-temperature dough is much easier to shape than cold, so pull the dough from the fridge about 1 hour before you start cooking.
BREAKFAST PIZZA
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
6 slices bacon
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces (1/2 cup) small-curd cottage cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 pound store-bought pizza dough, room temperature
6 large eggs
2 scallions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 500 F. Grease rimmed baking sheet with 1 tablespoon oil.
Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until crisp, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate; when cool enough to handle, crumble bacon. Combine mozzarella and Parmesan in bowl; set aside. Combine cottage cheese, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, cayenne, and 1 tablespoon oil in separate bowl; set aside.
Sprinkle counter lightly with flour. Roll dough into 15-by-11-inch rectangle with rolling pin, pulling on corners to help make distinct rectangle. Transfer dough to prepared sheet and press to edges of sheet. Brush edges of dough with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Bake dough until top appears dry and bottom is just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
Remove crust from oven and, using spatula, press down on any air bubbles. Spread cottage cheese mixture evenly over top, leaving 1-inch border around edges. Sprinkle bacon evenly over cottage cheese mixture.
Sprinkle mozzarella mixture evenly over pizza, leaving 1/2-inch border. Create 2 rows of 3 evenly spaced small wells in cheese, each about 3 inches in diameter (6 wells total). Crack 1 egg into each well, then season each egg with salt and pepper.
Return pizza to oven and bake until crust is light golden around edges and eggs are just set, 9 to 10 minutes for slightly runny yolks or 11 to 12 minutes for soft-cooked yolks, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
Transfer pan to wire rack and let pizza cool for 5 minutes. Transfer pizza to cutting board. Sprinkle with scallions and chives and drizzle with extra oil. Slice and serve.
Variation: Chorizo and Manchego breakfast pizza — Substitute 6 ounces chorizo sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices, for bacon and 1 cup shredded Manchego cheese for Parmesan. Cook chorizo in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 7 to 9 minutes. Let cool completely before proceeding.
Nutrition information per serving: 492 calories; 250 calories from fat; 28 g fat (10 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 248 mg cholesterol; 1190 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 26 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Pizza in "New Essentials ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
These scones are a flaky, honey-glazed brunch delight, brimming with juicy, sweet berries in a buttery, rich crumb. We achieved a perfectly crumbly texture by incorporating butter in two ways, processing some with flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt for even distribution, then pulsing more into pea-size pieces to achieve rich buttery pockets.
Tossing frozen berries in confectioners' sugar before folding them into the flour mixture prevented them from bleeding into the dough, and a honey-butter glaze, brushed on partway through baking, gave the scones a sweet sheen. Work the dough as little as possible, just until it comes together. Work quickly to keep the butter and berries as cold as possible for the best results.
Note that the butter is divided in this recipe. An equal amount of frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries (halved) can be used in place of the mixed berries.
Mixed berry scones
Servings: 8
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
Scones:
8 3/4 ounces (1 3/4 cups) frozen mixed berries
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, chilled
1/3 cup (2 1/3 ounces) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1 large egg plus 1 large yolk
Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
DIRECTIONS:
For the scones: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. If your berry mix contains strawberries, cut them in half. Toss berries with confectioners' sugar in bowl; freeze until needed.
Combine flour, 6 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in food processor and process until butter is fully incorporated, about 15 seconds. Add remaining 6 tablespoons butter and pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces, 10 to 12 pulses. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Stir in berries.
Beat milk and egg and yolk together in separate bowl. Make well in center of flour mixture and pour in milk mixture. Using rubber spatula, gently stir mixture, scraping from edges of bowl and folding inward until very shaggy dough forms and some bits of flour remain. Do not overmix.
Turn out dough onto well-floured counter and, if necessary, knead briefly until dough just comes together, about 3 turns. Using your floured hands and bench scraper, shape dough into 12 by 4 inch rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches tall. Using knife or bench scraper, cut dough crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. Cut each rectangle diagonally into 2 triangles (you should have 8 scones total). Transfer scones to prepared sheet. Bake until scones are lightly golden on top, 16 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
For the glaze: While scones bake, combine melted butter and honey in small bowl.
Remove scones from oven and brush tops evenly with glaze mixture. Return scones to oven and continue to bake until golden brown on top, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer scones to wire rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
To make ahead:
Unbaked scones can be frozen for several weeks. After cutting scones into triangles in step 4, freeze them on baking sheet. Transfer frozen scones to zipper-lock freezer bag. When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 F and extend cooking time in step 4 to 23 to 26 minutes. Glaze time in step 6 will remain at 5 to 8 minutes.
Nutrition information per serving: 446 calories; 200 calories from fat; 23 g fat (14 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 106 mg cholesterol; 571 mg sodium; 54 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 17 g sugar; 7 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Mixed Berry Scones in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
I hate to throw over-ripe bananas away. It is such a wasted opportunity for fresh fragrant banana bread. But, there is only so much banana bread that one can eat. That is why I asked myself, what else can I make with over-ripe bananas?
And, since it was Sunday, banana pancakes popped into my head. I had never made banana pancakes with over-ripe bananas. I usually make them with slices of firm, slightly green bananas because that is how I like to eat fresh bananas. As it turned out, the over-ripe bananas are way better for pancakes.
I also wanted to try a pancake technique that a friend of mine swears by. You separate the egg and blend the yolk and the white into the batter at different times. It is supposed to make the pancakes lighter. I am not sure that it made that much difference but it is easy to do, doesn't take any extra time like beating egg whites, and the resulting pancakes were light and fluffy and toothsome all at once.
The recipe is pretty basic with both sour milk and cream used as the liquid. I had cream on hand, but you could use half and half. I opted for cream because my milk was 2 percent and not whole milk. If I had had whole milk in the fridge, I would have used whole milk and half and half. I also soured my milk with white vinegar, but you could substitute buttermilk for the milk and vinegar combination.
A touch of nutmeg accented the ripe banana. I mashed the bananas as if I was making banana bread and added it to the batter right before I made the pancakes. The result was incredible_almost like banana bread pancakes. I love how the essence of banana was evident through the entire pancake but there were no discernable chunks of fruit.
Most pancake recipes instruct you to heat oil or melt butter in a skillet and "fry" the pancake. I prefer to cook them on a dry non-stick skillet so that they brown and bubble without any extra fat. If you do a side-by-side taste test, you can really see the difference. One looks like the top of a grilled quesadilla and the other resembles a baked good. The non-fried version is softer and more delicate in texture. The fried has a slightly crunchy top and is a bit greasy. Neither is right or wrong, it's all a matter of preference.
It's important to serve the pancakes with a good salted butter to bring out the banana flavor_I like Kate's Homemade Butter or Kerrygold_and real maple syrup. Other good additions are mini chocolate chips, dried coconut, toasted walnuts and pecans. These pancakes are good for breakfast, but even better served as "Breakfast for Dinner" with a side of crispy bacon.
Ripe banana pancakes
Servings: 18 medium pancakes
Start to finish: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 plus 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg, separated
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 cup cream or half and half
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ripe banana, mashed with a fork
Salted butter and real maple syrup for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven to 250 F and set a sheet pan with a rack. Set aside
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Combine the milk and the vinegar in a 2-cup glass measuring cup and let sit 1-2 minutes. Add the egg yolk, and cream or half and half and mix well. Add the melted butter to the milk and egg yolk mixture and blend with a fork until well combined.
Pour the yolk and milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a blending fork until barely combined. Mix the egg white in a small bowl until slightly foamy and add the egg white to the batter. Stir just until a thick batter is formed. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, mash a ripe banana in a separate bowl. Just before cooking, combine the mashed banana and the pancake batter.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. When hot, use a spoon or a ladle to drop batter in heaping spoonfuls to the pan, allowing room for the batter to spread out. Unlike most recipes, I prefer not to "fry" the pancakes in oil or butter. I like a drier non-oily finish. If your skillet is non-stick, this will not be a problem.
Cook for about 1-2 minutes, depending on size. When the pancake begins to bubble, use a thin off-set spatula to gently flip to the other side. The pancake should be golden brown, if the heat is too high, the pancake will burn on the outside and be uncooked on the inside. Cook on the other side for another 2 minutes, or until the bottom of the pancake is golden brown.
Remove from the skillet to the baking sheet and place the sheet in the oven while you cook all the batter. Scrape any stray crumbs or scraps out of the skillet as you make the pancakes or the fresh pancakes will pick up the burned bits as they cook. Serve as soon as possible, with salted butter and maple syrup.
Note: If cooking for a crowd, this recipe can be easily doubled and extra pancakes can be frozen and re-heated with very little difference in taste.
Nutrition information per pancake: 99 calories; 47 calories from fat; 5 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 26 mg cholesterol; 145 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 2 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
- By The Culinary Institute of America
College kids love cereal, and that is an indisputable fact. Even if they don't love it going in, they'll probably be hooked by the third week of their freshman year. College students have lots to juggle, meaning food is often last on their list of priorities. So that makes that easy bowl of cereal a lifesaver when the work piles up.
Even at The Culinary Institute of America, where students' breakfasts can mean made-to-order eggs Benedict and huevos rancheros, convenience sometimes wins. Like, what happens when those hard-working students' alarm clocks get turned off through absolutely no fault of their own and they're running late to their 8 a.m. Chocolate and Confectionery Techniques exam?
The savior of every college student (and anyone of any age who sometimes oversleeps) is this recipe for On-the-Go Cereal Balls and here's why: One, they are yummy. Two, they are easy to make (no cooking!). And three, you can make them as healthy — or not — as you like.
All of the ingredients in this recipe, from the cereal to the nut butter to the dried fruit, can be picked up at any market. They can also be easily boxed up in a care package with the recipe included, plus a little note from home. Except for the powdered milk (which is cheap and easy to find), the ingredients are probably already in your college kid's dorm room, so they have no excuse — though they'll sure try to find one right?
Prepared quickly by hand in a bowl (or discarded pizza box, if we're being realistic), these cereal balls can be ready in a matter of minutes and will hold all week, ready to grab on the way out the door. Using whole grain cereal and lightly sweetened nut butters, they hit that sweet spot our kids so often crave at breakfast, but still offer the proteins and carbohydrates they need to power them through a busy morning.
And the flavor combinations are limited only to your family's preferences, like honey-nut cereal with almond butter and dried cranberries, or cinnamon-flavored cereal with cashew butter and dried cherries, or homemade granola and chocolate-hazelnut. There's no end to the combinations.
If you're facing food allergies, don't despair. This recipe can be made using gluten-free cereals, and the nut butters can include sunflower seed butter or even tahini, made from sesame seeds. And if dairy is an issue, you can omit the milk powder for slightly different results. This ingredient helps to bind the whole mixture together, so you might find that you need to add a bit more honey or nut butter, in that case. Always remember to check the ingredient list in your prepared foods for hidden allergens, too.
And since little kids are just pre-19-year-olds, this recipe is tailor-made for them as well, as they head back to school. You can size the balls up or down, depending on your little one's appetite, making them the perfect hand-held treat. Wrap them in parchment paper before you hop in the car to help keep that backseat free of sticky fingers, if such a thing is even possible.
On-the-go cereal balls
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups of your favorite cereal
3/4 cup peanut butter or other nut butter
3/4 cup nonfat powdered milk (see Chef's Note)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped dried fruit (optional)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
Lightly crush the cereal in a medium bowl, and then add the peanut butter, powdered milk, honey, dried fruit (if using), and vanilla. Mix until the cereal is evenly coated.
Use your hands to shape the mixture into 6 balls. Eat right away, or refrigerate, covered, until ready to eat.
Chef's Note: Powdered milk is made by dehydrating (removing the water from) liquid milk. This form of milk has many uses, but in a recipe like this, it helps hold all of the pieces together. You can find powdered milk at your grocery store.
Nutrition information per serving: 379 calories; 161 calories from fat; 18 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 2 mg cholesterol; 228 mg sodium; 50 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 34 g sugar; 11 g protein.
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
I recently became obsessed with these little crustless quiches.
They're more frittata, but everyone who eats them likens them to quiche. However defined, they are quick and easy to prepare and can be filled with any of your favorite cheese, vegetable and/or meat combos.
Make sure that your vegetables are sauteed before filling the muffin tins, and any meat such as sausage and bacon is cooked. The short baking time will melt the cheese and set the eggs but not cook any of your add-ins. Since there is no crust to make, these are perfect egg bites for anyone who is watching their carbs or is gluten sensitive. But the real reason to make them is that they taste great.
These "egg muffins" are perfect for entertaining and any leftovers turn a grab-and-go breakfast into a treat. In fact, I sometimes make them just to have on hand for quick weekday breakfasts. My favorite version so far includes asparagus, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and brie as I've included in this recipe. I add pimentos and green onions for flavor and color and tend to keep them in the mix regardless of what other ingredients I choose. The great thing about baking these eggs in a muffin tin is that you can customize them for your guests. For example, you can add ham or some other meat to half of them for the meat lovers and keep half all veggies for the non-meat eaters in your group. They also offer instant portion control and are simple to serve — all you need do is bake, place in a basket or on a platter and serve.
Plus, they are a sight to behold when they are baking. At the end of the baking time, they puff up like a souffle. As they cool, they do deflate a bit but that short thrill makes the eating all the more exciting.
Baked muffin frittatas with asparagus and mushrooms
Servings: 12
Start to finish: 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
10 eggs
cup cream
teaspoon sea salt
Pinch of nutmeg
Butter or olive oil to coat pans
1 cup asparagus, chopped
1 heaping cup thinly sliced mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
cup thinly sliced green onion
cup chopped pimentos
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
pound brie cheese, cut into 12 pieces
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Crack eggs into a liquid measuring cup. Whisk the eggs, cream, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
Melt butter in a saute pan and add asparagus and mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until beginning to soften but the asparagus is still bright green.
Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with olive oil. Divide asparagus, mushrooms, green onion, and cheese between each muffin cup, then carefully pour egg mixture over tops until muffin tins are almost full (leave 1/4-inch space).
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.
The egg muffins will look like a souffl when they come out of the oven, but they will fall after a few minutes. Let them rest in the muffin tin for a few minutes before using a rubber spatula to carefully remove each muffin. Place on a wire rack to cool for a couple of minutes to let the steam dissipate.
Enjoy immediately or let cool and transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag.
Refrigerate for up to three days. They can be eaten cold or reheated in a microwave.
Nutrition information per serving: 199 calories; 144 calories from fat; 16 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 220 mg cholesterol; 336 mg sodium; 2 g carbohydrate; 0 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 12 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Despite its name, this "omelet" is nothing like the filling-stuffed egg dish you expect at brunch, nor does it take a day to bake. This cheesy, golden, puffed casserole is all about the eggs, consisting of a rich custard, bread, and cheese and yielding a melt-in-your-mouth texture that rivals even the fluffiest scrambled eggs.
The eggs should be this dish's focus, not the bread, so to keep their flavor at the fore, we prepared a milk-based custard. Buttered white bread, cut into bite-size pieces and layered with tangy cheddar cheese in a baking dish, promised to melt right into the custard while also bringing in plenty of richness.
A small amount of grated onion and a bit of dry mustard and hot sauce added just enough complexity to the creamy eggs. Refrigerating the assembled omelet overnight melded the flavors and saturated the bread, so all we had to do before brunch was bake it.
Cheesy and golden, this humble casserole puffed impressively above the rim of the baking dish, making it a tempting but unfussy centerpiece. Use the large holes of a box grater to grate the onion.
The omelet needs to sit in the refrigerator, well covered, for at least 8 hours in order to achieve the desired consistency.
24-hour omelet
Servings: 6-8
Start to finish: 1 hour 30 minutes (plus 8 hours chilling time)
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
10 slices hearty white sandwich bread
12 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (3 cups)
8 large eggs
3 cups whole milk
1 small onion, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Grease 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Spread butter evenly over 1 side of bread slices, then cut into 1 inch pieces. Scatter half of bread evenly in prepared dish and sprinkle with half of cheddar. Repeat with remaining bread and cheese.
Whisk eggs, milk, onion, salt, pepper, mustard, and hot sauce together in bowl until well combined. Pour egg mixture evenly over bread and press lightly on bread to submerge. Wrap dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 F. Unwrap casserole and bake until puffed and golden, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.
Variations:
- 24-hour "omelet" with sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella: Substitute mozzarella cheese for cheddar. Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry and chopped, between 2 layers of bread in step 1. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro over top before serving.
- 24-hour "omelet" with pepper jack and chipotle chile: Substitute pepper Jack cheese for cheddar and 2 to 3 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce for dry mustard and hot sauce. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro over top before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 442 calories; 247 calories from fat; 28 g fat (14 g saturated; 1 g trans fats);279 mg cholesterol; 860 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 23 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like 24-Hour Omelet in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Margaret Button, The Berkshire Eagle
Through the years, I have become obsessed with coffee. Not only needing it within 10 minutes of waking up, but the coffees themselves and how they're brewed. It seems like I'm on a constant search for the just-right coffeemaker and method.
My kitchen counter has an array of coffee makers — a Keurig single-brew maker with a cappuccino/latte frother, a drip coffee maker that makes just enough coffee to fill my rather large commuter coffee cup and a glass French press coffee maker. And let's not forget the coffee bean grinder ...
Due to time constraints, I use the Keurig when I have to dash out the door to work. Two pods, two cycles and I'm out the door. The lattes and cappuccinos are best saved for the weekend, when I have time to savor them. And the French press is for those days when nothing will do but several very strong, caffeine-full, dark roast cups of coffee.
My favorite coffee is Jamaican Blue Mountain, which I cajole my Jamaican-bound friends into bringing back for me, and which I reserve for special occasions. The best I've ever had came from a little shack, oddly enough called the Blue Mountain Coffee Shop in Negril, owned by a lovely young woman named LaToya, who roasted the beans herself in a tin drum over an open fire behind the shop.
I've never met a coffee I didn't love — and my pantry and counter attests to that. There are at least eight containers of coffee — beans, ground and K-cups — next to the coffeemakers, and more hidden out of sight. Flavored coffees, decaf coffee, dark roast coffee, coffee from Jamaica, coffee from Hawaii, coffee from everywhere ...
My son, David, also a Jamaican Blue Mountain aficionado, introduced me to cold brew coffee, which is made similar to sun tea, only minus the sun. The ground coffee steeps in water overnight, strained and then consumed. I came across this recipe for vanilla cinnamon iced coffee, which I really like, despite the fact I don't use sugar in my coffee.
VANILLA CINNAMON ICED COFFEE
INGREDIENTS:
Iced coffee:
1 1/2 cups ground strong coffee
8 cups water
Ice
2 teaspoons vanilla cinnamon syrup, to taste (recipe below)
Half-and-half, to taste
Vanilla cinnamon syrup:
1 cup extra fine granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 vanilla bean, sliced open vertically
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Iced coffee:
Add coffee grounds and water to a large pitcher. Stir. Cover and let sit at room temperature overnight for up to 12 hours. Strain mixture through a coffee filter or cheesecloth. Discard leftover coffee grounds. Store coffee in fridge until ready to use.
Fill a large glass with ice cubes. Add coffee, vanilla syrup, and half-and-half. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or vanilla cinnamon syrup as needed.
Vanilla cinnamon syrup:
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add sugar, water and vanilla bean. Bring to a roiling boil and remove from heat. Let cool, then stir in vanilla extract and cinnamon.
Pour syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove any vanilla bean pieces. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- By America's Test Kitchen
When making these delicious breakfast tacos, there are two ways to cook bacon.
One is the oven, the best way to cook bacon for a crowd. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 F. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange strips of bacon (as much as 1 pound) on foil (slices can overlap slightly). Place baking sheet in oven and bake until bacon is browned and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes. Baking sheet (and grease) will be very hot! Carefully transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Then there's the stovetop: Place 4 strips of bacon in 12-inch skillet (regular or nonstick) and add 1/2 cup water. Turn heat to high. When water comes to boil, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until water evaporates, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and keep cooking until bacon is crispy and golden brown on first side, about 2 minutes. Use tongs to flip bacon and cook until crispy and golden brown on second side, about 2 minutes. Transfer bacon to plate lined with paper towels to drain.
BREAKFAST TACOS WITH BACON
Servings: 2-4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
PREPARE INGREDIENTS:
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 slice bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 scallion, sliced thin
4 (6-inch) flour or corn tortillas
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 lime, cut into wedges
GATHER COOKING EQUIPMENT:
Medium bowl
Whisk
10-inch nonstick skillet
Rubber spatula
Microwave-safe plate
Dish towel
START COOKING!
In medium bowl, whisk eggs, salt, and pepper until well combined and uniform yellow color, about 1 minute. Set aside.
In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally with rubber spatula until crispy, about 4 minutes.
Stir scallion into skillet and cook until just softened, about 1 minute.
Add eggs to skillet and gently stir, scraping bottom of skillet, until eggs have clumped and are still slightly wet, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn off heat and slide skillet to cool burner.
Stack tortillas on microwave-safe plate, cover with damp dish towel, and heat in microwave until warm, about 20 seconds.
Divide egg mixture evenly among warm tortillas. Serve with salsa, cheese and lime wedges.
Nutrition information per serving: 220 calories; 93 calories from fat; 10 g fat (4 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 223 mg cholesterol;737 mg sodium; 20 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 12 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Breakfast Tacos in "The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs ."
___
America's Test Kitchen provided this article to The Associated Press.
- By America's Test Kitchen
This bread pudding is earthy, comforting, and perfect for a relaxed brunch at home.
To make sure this casserole came out rich and satisfying but not overbearing, we chose leaner (but still flavorful) turkey sausage instead of pork and banned soggy bread by toasting torn baguette slices, enriching their flavor and ensuring they would stand up to the custard.
To add even more depth to the pudding while further preventing a wet texture, we microwaved kale with some aromatics and oil to jump-start its cooking and eliminate excess water in our finished dish.
We stirred the toasted bread into a simple custard, prepared with 3 parts cream to 2 parts milk for measured richness. To prevent curdling, we stabilized the custard by using just yolks rather than the traditional whole eggs.
Once the bread had absorbed some of the custard and the kale was mixed in, we layered the custard-bread mixture with sausage and topped it all off with Parmesan. From there, all we had to do was bake it, covered at first to set the filling and then uncovered for the last 20 minutes to generate some appealing browning.
Savory bread pudding with turkey sausage and kale
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 2 hours
INGREDIENTS:
1 (18-to-20 inch) baguette, torn into 1 inch pieces (10 cups)
1 pound kale, stemmed and chopped
4 shallots, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
8 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 pound turkey sausage, casings removed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 F. Arrange bread in even layer in 13-by-9 inch baking dish. Bake, stirring occasionally, until bread is crisp and browned, about 12 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400 F.
Meanwhile, combine kale, shallots, garlic, and oil in bowl and microwave, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted, about 5 minutes. Wrap kale mixture in clean dish towel and wring tightly to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
Whisk cream, milk, egg yolks, and mustard together in large bowl. Stir in toasted bread and drained kale mixture until well combined.
Spray now-empty baking dish with vegetable oil spray. Pour half of bread mixture into prepared dish. Crumble half of sausage into 1/2 inch pieces over top. Top with remaining bread mixture and remaining sausage. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Cover tightly with greased aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until custard is just set and top is browned, about 20 minutes.
Remove dish from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chives before serving.
Nutrition information per serving: 809 calories; 554 calories from fat; 62 g fat (34 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 462 mg cholesterol; 657 mg sodium; 41 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 12 g sugar; 27 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Savory Bread Pudding with Turkey Sausage and Kale in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By America's Test Kitchen
Combine the rich layers of a croissant with the sweet swirls of a cinnamon bun and you'll have one of our favorite brunch pastries: morning buns.
For a simpler route to a yeasted, croissant-like pastry, we added a packet of yeast to a quick puff pastry dough. We created long, thin pieces of flake-producing butter by adding chilled butter to the dry ingredients in a zipper-lock bag and rolling over it with a rolling pin. Orange zest and juice offered sweet, citrusy brightness.
We started our rolls in a hot oven for a rapid rise but later dropped the temperature to impart gradual, even browning. If the dough becomes too soft to work with at any point, refrigerate it until it's firm enough to easily handle. Unrisen buns can be refrigerated for at least 16 hours or up to 24 hours; let buns sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.
Morning buns
Servings: 12
Start to finish: 1 hour, 30 minutes (not including 1 hour, 15 minutes to 1 hour, 45 minutes freezing and rising time)
INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
21/4 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices and chilled
1 cup sour cream, chilled
1/4 cup orange juice, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg yolk
Filling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS;
For the dough Combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in 1 gallon zipper-lock bag. Add butter to bag, seal, and shake to coat. Press air out of bag and reseal. Roll over bag several times with rolling pin, shaking bag after each roll, until butter is pressed into large flakes.
Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in sour cream, orange juice, ice water, and egg yolk with wooden spoon until combined. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 30 seconds.
Press and roll dough into 20 by 12 inch rectangle, with short side parallel to counter edge. Roll dough away from you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.
With seam side down, flatten cylinder into 12-by-4 inch rectangle. Transfer to parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with greased plastic wrap, and freeze for 15 minutes.
For the filling: Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners and spray with vegetable oil spray. Combine all ingredients in bowl. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and roll into 20-by-12 inch rectangle, with long side parallel to counter edge. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, leaving 1/2 inch border around edges, and press lightly to adhere.
Roll dough away from you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Pinch seam closed, then reshape cylinder as needed to be 20 inches in length with uniform thickness.
Using serrated knife, trim 1/2 inch dough from each end and discard. Cut cylinder into 12 pieces and place cut side up in muffin cups. Cover loosely with greased plastic and let rise until doubled in size, 1 to 11/2 hours.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Bake until buns begin to rise, about 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 F. Continue to bake until buns are deep golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let buns cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and discard liners. Serve warm.
Nutrition information per serving: 431 calories; 238 calories from fat; 27 g fat (17 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 84 mg cholesterol; 160 mg sodium; 44 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 19 g sugar; 4 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Morning Buns in "All-Time Best Brunch ."
- By Francesca Olsen, Eagle correspondent
I have a confession to make. All those nice, local-food-inspired dinners I generally write about are great, but I am fueled every day by a divine and simple ingredient you can get at any grocery store: Oatmeal. Not even any special oatmeal, either. The $2.99 tube of unflavored quick oats. Yes, I said quick oats.
I've been meaning to write an oatmeal column for quite a while, and I routinely tweet about oatmeal with the hashtags #notgrueltome and #oatlife. So far, the two major oat producers I tag in every oat-related tweet have not responded. Not even a like.
I once had a great idea for an all-oatmeal restaurant to the tune of Chipotle, where you go in and customize plain oatmeal with amazing and healthy ingredients. (A former partner once told me this was too reminiscent of a bread line during the Great Depression. I disagree.)
Listen: Oats are not boring. They are not depressing. They provide 77 percent of your daily iron. One cup of cooked oatmeal (that's a half cup dry) is 158 calories. They are a good source of Vitamin B-6 (35 percent of your daily needs). They've got calcium (18 percent) and protein (6 grams! 12 percent!). That is an excellent breakfast base right there.
But this is a recipe column, so we're going to take that base and explore all the wonderful, and still very healthy, things you can do with it. In the fall, after making six or seven pints of apple butter, I stir one tablespoon into my oats every morning with a tablespoon of peanut butter. I am half convinced the molasses from the apple butter is keeping away winter sickness. Sometimes, I cut the water with coconut milk, which makes oatmeal rich and silky. Neither of these options add much in the way of calories, and both add nutrition.
So please, hear me out. Ditch your weird, pre-processed breakfast bar with God-knows-what-kind of fruit. Kick that muffin (that is really a morning cupcake) to the curb. Say no to a greasy breakfast sandwich laden with cholesterol. If you never eat breakfast, eat oatmeal for a week and see how good and strong you feel — and how much less hungry you are come lunch time. Take breakfast back, and go to work with a zip-lock bag full of dry oats and a bowl and spoon, if necessary.
It's not fancy, but it makes good sense — and one of those $2.99 tubes will keep you oat-rich for about a month, which is far cheaper than any other breakfast option I can think of. #oatlife.
Oats for the barely awake working professional
INGREDIENTS:
cup of oatmeal ( if you're extra hungry)
cup water (or one cup — two parts water, one part oats is the rule)
1 tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon apple butter or 2 teaspoons brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Mix oats and water in bowl, then microwave for 1 minute, 30 seconds. (I use quick oats but regular oats microwave just as well.) Stir in peanut butter and sweetener until fully combined. Eat as your morning coffee restores your brain function. Bask in the simple nutrition you have given yourself.
KICK IT UP A NOTCH: AMAZING OAT ADDITIONS
You can really add anything to a bowl of oatmeal. Some people are on a savory trend, but I stick to sweet. It reminds me of the sickeningly, maddeningly sweet cereal advertised to me as a child in the 1990s. Try one wet ingredient with one dry, or go crazy and make an Instagram-worthy oat bowl with 75 ingredients. It's for your health!
Wet ingredients
- Coconut milk: sub half the water
- Actual milk: Sub half the water
- Almond or cashew milk: of the water, since these milks are lower in calories and less thick overall
- Jams and jellies: Start with 2 tbsp, and customize to your own sweet tooth
- Honey: 2 tbsp
- Maple syrup: 1 tbsp (go light on maple syrup, which is also packed with minerals and is super-sweet)
- Other sweeteners like agave syrup
Dry ingredients
- Shredded, unsweetened coconut (or sweetened — just don't add too much sugar)
- Peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter (almond butter is my favorite, but expensive)
- Chia seeds: 1 tsp
- Hemp seed: 1 tsp
- Any dried fruit — raisins, cranberries, even dried apricots chopped up
- Any fresh or frozen fruit (microwave first if frozen) but especially strawberries, blueberries, blackberries
- A whole banana (amazing with peanut butter and you barely need to add sugar)
- Sesame seeds: 1 tsp
- Cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg: A dusting of each makes a chai-esque flavor, amazing when paired with coconut milk
- By Elizabeth Karmel, The Associated Press
Long before I knew that the origin of breakfast tacos were a hotly debated topic, I was eating them and loving them. I had my first breakfast taco many years ago in Houston and have enjoyed many more in Austin, Texas. But, I am not about to give birthright credit to any particular city in because I am fairly certain that Mexican immigrants all grew up with their mother's version of "breakfast tacos."
The beauty of the tortilla is that it makes normal fork and knife foods like scrambled eggs (and pork barbecue, steak, fish, etc.), portable. And, regardless of where you had your first breakfast taco, if you are like me, you crave them and must make them yourself at home.
I am a "no beans and no rice" kind of girl and prefer my breakfast tacos like my favorite egg sandwich but rolled, or folded over in a flour tortilla. To me, the essential ingredients must be cheesy eggs, a dash of hot sauce and cool slices of ripe avocado. I love bacon and prefer to serve it on the side where it stays crisp — but feel free to add it into the eggs. Not many places add slices of avocado unless you ask for it, but for me, the avocado is what makes it a Tex-Mex breakfast taco instead of just eggs in a tortilla.
When I have tomatoes and white onions on hand, I add those to my cheesy eggs and I am one happy girl. I like breakfast tacos so much that I have been known to have them for lunch and or dinner as well.
The truth is that you can put any of your favorite cheese and egg add-ins in your breakfast taco. In Texas, the potato, egg and cheese combo reigns king as does the classic eggs and bacon. If you are a fan of chorizo, chorizo and crispy potatoes make a perfect match especially with some blistered poblano peppers thrown in for good measure.
Breakfast tacos
Servings: 8
Start to finish: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and cooked, optional or serve whole slices on the side
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
8 6-inch flour tortillas, warmed on a griddle
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 small white onion, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
8 large eggs
1 cup white cheddar or Monterey Jack with jalapenos, shredded
1 avocado, thinly sliced for serving
Hot sauce
DIRECTIONS:
Cook bacon, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 10-12 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain (do not pour off fat from skillet).
Using a large non-stick skillet, add 2 tablespoons of butter and onions to skillet and cook, stirring often, until translucent and tender, 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper. Remove skillet from heat.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl to blend; add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in the nonstick skillet over medium heat and let melt. Pour eggs in evenly over the tomatoes and onions. Cook eggs, stirring occasionally to mix in onions and tomatoes, and scraping bottom of skillet with a heatproof spatula or fork to form large curds, about 1-2 minutes. Add cheese and stir to mix in and finish cooking. Do not increase the heat to cook everything faster or the eggs may burn.
Remove eggs from heat and mix in bacon if using or serve on the side.
Fill tortillas with cheesy egg mixture and top with avocado. Serve with hot sauce.
Nutrition information per serving: 354 calories; 191 calories from fat; 21 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 244 mg cholesterol; 428 mg sodium; 27 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 2 g sugar; 15 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
By ALISON LADMAN
Associated Press
Ready to get retro with your baked goodies? How about a batch of do-it-yourself toaster pastries?
They are easier than you think. After all, the ones you buy are nothing more than two sheets of (not particularly good) pastry dough sandwiching a sugary filling. Plus, doing them at home lets you customize the glaze and the filling. We went with a brown sugar-cinnamon filling and glaze on ours, but you could substitute any jam if you'd prefer a fruit filling. You also could ditch the glaze and sprinkle the top with coarse sugar before baking.
Once they are baked, store the pastries at room temperature for three to four days. Alternatively, for an easy do-ahead breakfast, freeze the assembled pastries on the baking sheet prior to baking. Once frozen, wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to three months. They can be baked as needed; add just a few extra minutes to the oven time.
Cinnamon-brown sugar pastry tarts
Start to finish: 2 hours
Servings: 12
Ingredients:
For the pastry dough:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
For the glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
2 drops cinnamon oil (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
Directions:
To make the pastry, in a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter cubes into the flour until the mixture looks mostly like coarse meal but with some pieces as large as peas.
In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, water and vanilla until smooth. Pour the liquid into the butter-flour mixture and stir together first with a wooden spoon, then with your hands, mixing until a cohesive dough forms. Use a little bit of extra flour on your hands if the mixture is too moist. Pat the dough into two 8-by-5-inch rectangles that are about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, make the filling. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Add the egg and melted butter and stir until thoroughly mixed. Cover, refrigerate and set aside.
When the dough is chilled, heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with kitchen parchment.
On a counter lightly dusted with flour, roll 1 piece of the dough out to a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Use a paring knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 3-by-5 inches each. Arrange the pieces on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 inch between them. These will be the bottoms of the pastries. Divide the filling among the bottoms, using about 2 teaspoons of filling per pastry. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border all the way around.
Roll the second piece of the dough out to a 12-by-15-inch rectangle. Use a paring knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 3-by-5 inches each. Top each pastry with one of the dough pieces, lining up the edges with the bottoms. Use your fingers to crimp the edges all the way around. Use a knife tip to poke a few vent holes through the center of the tops of the pastries so steam can escape. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. It's a good idea to gently lift a pastry with a spatula to check that the bottoms are lightly browned as well. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze, in a small saucepan over medium, combine both sugars, the milk and cinnamon. Heat until the sugars are dissolved. Drizzle over the finished pastries.
Nutrition information per serving: 410 calories; 180 calories from fat (44 percent of total calories); 20 g fat (12 g saturated; 0.5 g trans fats); 105 mg cholesterol; 190 mg sodium; 53 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 28 g sugar; 5 g protein.