Breakfast For Dinner with Krusteaz

Breakfast is quite possibly my favorite meal- when there's sweet and savory, and never ending freshly brewed coffee, I am a happy woman. Throw in some salty bacon or sausage and it's a perfect meal in our household. Eating breakfast at dinnertime is even better and so comforting. 

Ever since my kiddo started school last month, he's been sick. He's picked up yucky school germs and has either had a cough, cold or congestion since the start of September....that he kindly shared with his parents. Just recently he also had a fever that really wore him down. When Hayden is really sick, he just sleeps and doesn't eat very much. While it's nice and quiet in the house, I worry about him getting enough nutrition. So when he specifically said he was hungry and wanted pancakes for dinner, I happily obliged. 

I reached for the Krusteaz Blueberry Pancake mix and made a double batch of pancakes for my boy. I like to make enough pancakes to stock my freezer so that school day breakfast are quick and easy. I followed the directions on the back of the box but added a little vanilla extract and a few handfuls of fresh blueberries- for extra berry goodness. He ate every single bite and after a few days, felt much better. 

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED** Would you like to try Krusteaz mixes as well? One lucky winner will receive a Krusteaz Breakfast Night prize pack containing each of the Krusteaz mixes- Buttermilk Pancake, Blueberry Pancake, Belgian Waffle, Wild Blueberry Muffin, a pancake pen, a spatula and a coupon for free product. Simply leave a comment on this blog post along with your email and tell me what your favorite kind of pancakes are. **GIVEAWAY CLOSED**

Krusteaz kindly sent me product to try, but the options I express are my own. I was not compensated for this blog post- just sharing so that you can enjoy it too!

Insanely Great Waffles and Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend. We celebrated a few birthdays, dyed eggs, took some pictures in a field of bluebonnets, I baked and cooked til I fell into bed and we had an Easter egg hunt. This was Hayden's second Easter but the first time he was big enough to get involved. I got him a puppy basket and filled eggs with yogurt raisins and m&m's. He also got a new toothbrush and toothpaste which he LOVES. He could brush his teeth all day long if you let him. He had so much fun hunting eggs and crushing cascarones in the backyard, that my aunt and uncle brought over. 

This year for Easter, my grandparents were in town so the family gathered and we had brunch. I made a lemon tart, a strawberry cake, a breakfast casserole, wrapped up Cowboy cookies as favors and whipped up a quintuple batch of these waffles. I usually make yeasted Belgian waffles but these are much quicker to prepare and just as delicious. I made them the night before, froze them, then reheated them in the oven just as the guests arrived. It saved a ton of time and everyone got piping hot waffles. The only thing missing was the fried chicken!  

Waffles of Insane Greatness from Food Network

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• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately.

Serves 3-4 

NOTE: The waffles will vary in size depending on your waffle maker. I have a Belgian waffle maker that produces thick waffles. This recipe makes 6 squares of waffles. I often double or triple the recipe and freeze the leftovers for a quick breakfast during the week. 

Buttered Pecan Syrup from Monica H

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine pecans, butter and syrup. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Just before serving, stir in vanilla extract. Pour over waffles, pancakes, or ice cream. 

Serves 4

Happy Spring!

Sunshine In A Muffin

Ever see a recipe that looks good then someone else makes it and put their twist on it and it seems so much more enticing? That's what happened to me with this recipe. This recipe comes from two fantastic and talented bakers, Jane (Jane's Sweets & Baking Journal) and Lululu (lululu at home). Between their pictures and descriptions of this beautiful muffin (and my adoration of anything with strawberries and cream cheese) these muffins were bound to be whipped up in my kitchen at some point. I made these around Valentine's Day and they were just LOVE-ly. 

These muffins were awesome. I simplified the instructions just a bit and added orange zest to brighten up my muffin batter. Strawberries and oranges are just so summery to me- I love that combo even more than strawberries and lemon. You get that same vibrant punch from the zest but it's much more aromatic and not as tart.

I think I liked these so much because they were so.....creamy. I'd describe the muffin to you, but Jane said it best when she said the cream cheese center "just barely evokes the flavor of cheesecake, and it's subtle enough so that it doesn't make the muffins too rich, nor does it make you feel like you're eating something that belongs on a dessert cart. It also doesn't firm up into a thickened streak within the muffin, but melds nicely into the batter itself, augmenting the moistness of the muffin's soft interior." Well said my friend. Well said. 

Strawberry-Orange Cream Cheese Muffins 

adapted from Jane's Baking Journal and lululu at home

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Cream Cheese Mixture: 

• 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Muffins:

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, diced into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. 

For The Cream Cheese Mixture: In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Set aside.

For The Muffins: In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, orange zest, vanilla and eggs until incorporated.

Using a spatula, stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir until just combined but do not overmix.

Spoon  the batter into the prepared tins, filling them no more than 1/2 full.

Scatter a few pieces of strawberry on top of each one.

Top the strawberries with a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture, a tablespoon more of muffin batter, and finally a few more pieces of strawberry.

Bake the muffins for about 25 minutes, until they’re light golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before removing them to a rack to cool. 

Makes about 15 muffins.

Going Bananas!

A couple weeks ago, I had eight black bananas sitting on my counter. The obvious choice would have been to make banana bread, but it's not my favorite thing to eat and if I'm going to consume the calories it better be something I want! When I have a couple ripe bananas to use, I usually make Strawberry Jello Salad that my husband loves so much. But I had 8. EIGHT. That's a lot of black bananas. So I turned to my peeps on Facebook (I finally joined FB- yay!) and my friends came through for me with these two recipes. 

First off, I have to tell you why I had so many dang bananas. My husband likes to eat a bowl of frozen fruit at night and he likes to add a banana to it to break up the cold. Well he was out of cherries so he quit eating the bananas. They started to turn brownish and he didn't want them anymore so he bought fresh green ones. I used up a couple in smoothies, then a couple more in peanut butter banana sandwiches, then the new bananas that he bought started to get speckles on them and he quit eating those too! At this point I was staring at bananas on the counter that got darker by the day and they started to smell. They needed to be used and I'm not a fan of freezing them. 

Chocolate Chip Banana Coffee Cake- Go HERE for the recipe. 

Allie from Eat at Allie's suggested I make muffins but that's not what I was craving at the time. I wanted something a little more indulgent so I called my banana loving friend Ingrid from 3B's. Without hesitation, she recommended a banana coffee cake with a chocolate chip streusel. Funny thing about that recipe, is that I recommended it to her over two years ago! The recipe came full circle and I made it. Danelle from Let's Dish made it too! The house smelled heavenly and it was delicious. A couple mornings later, I made Allie's banana crumb muffins to take to a friend. I saved a few for us to have for breakfast and they were equally good and simple to make. All that to say that, I now have two  new banana recipes and you do too! Enjoy my friends. 

Banana Crumb Muffins adapted from Eat at Allie's

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For The Topping: 

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

For The Muffins: 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper muffin cups*.

Make the topping: In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon.

Use a fork to cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. 

Make the muffins: In large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the sugar, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until just combined. 

Use an ice cream scoop to evenly disperse the batter into prepared muffin cups.

Sprinkle crumb topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven for 17-19 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

*Makes 12-14 muffins. 

If you have any great recipes to use up ripe bananas, please let me know!

Playing Catch Up With Lots of Random Photos

I was going to share with you my top recipes of 2012 but I haven't gotten my act together and compiled that list yet. Instead I thought I'd share some pictures that I've taken over the last couple months of recipes that I've made, sunsets from my backyard and a few pics of Hayden thrown in for good measure. And a caterpillar- can't forget him! Sound good? Here we go!

I photographed this breakfast casserole for a holiday magazine. This time I made it with ham and cheddar. Looks good enough to eat! One of my favorite casseroles to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

This boy loves marshmallows and steals them out of the pantry every chance he gets. This particular time, it was for breakfast. Busted!

I made this pecan cheesecake pie for Thanksgiving but never got around to taking any more photos of the completed pie, then it all got eaten and there was nothing to take pictures of. It's a pecan pie with a layer of cheesecake filling in it. It was yummy served cold!

My little man stirring up something delicious. 

 

I searched high and low for the perfect pumpkin pie recipe. My brother absolutely loves it and every year he buys several pies from a BBQ restaurant here in town. To be honest they're really not that good. They're kind of dry and bland so I made sure to make an extra special pie for him. And you know what? It was delicious and spicy and creamy and tender. One of the best pumpkin pies I've ever eaten, actually. My brother said it was good but immediately followed it up with a criticism. That's pretty typical. Come to find out, he likes cheesecake and pumpkin pie to be hard and dry in texture. That's his personal preference, but if you like smooth and creamy and spicy pumpkin pie with a special ingredient, this pie is for you!

Fuzzy little guy!

I made these for Christmas as plate decorations for the neighbors to go along with their Christmas cupcakes. I also had a few with cocoa. :-) These are so easy to make. Just like your pan with wax, parchment or a Silpat. Put your mini candy canes together to form hearts, fill with melted chocolate and sprinkle with non-pareils. Allow to set up at room temperature and you're done. 

 

Didn't have time to get family photos done this year, so I took some of Hayden by himself in from of the tree to use on our Christmas card. He's a pretty handsome guy, if I say so myself!

Here we are Christmas morning, before opening gifts. I set the time on the DSLR and kept running back and forth to make sure the lighting and composition were set up correctly. About 50 pictures and a not-so-amused-husband later, I realized I didn't even bother to brush my hair. Oh well. Merry Christmas!

And lastly, my Aunt Mary's Sugar Cookies. Made with powdered sugar instead of granulated so they're extra tender. These really aren't the kind you top with icing, but they're still fun to decorate with colored sugar and sprinkles. I make these every year with different cookie cutters. 

Hope you enjoyed my catch up post. Have a great rest of the week!

~Monica

Sweet Love Child

At the start of the new year, many of you will vow to cut out sweets from your life, go on diets and jump on the treadmill, desperately trying to drop a few holiday pounds. I get very lonely when that happens :-) Since I have a couple more days before 2013 gets here, I thought I'd share one last recipe in 2012 that's full of buttery, sugary goodness. Can I tempt any of you with Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake? There are oats and raisins in it, so don't feel so guilty. 

My very own photo/blog assistant!

I saw this recipe and had to make it, because I love me a good oatmeal raisin cookie. It's such a simple cookie, but it delivers every time- chewy raisins and oats, crunchy and buttery edges...oh, so good! There are oats in the cake batter, in the filling and the top cookie crumble. It's got raisins scattered throughout with spicy cinnamon and nutmeg perfuming the whole thing. It's practically health food. If coffee cake and cookies got together and had a love child, this would be it. And what a sweet love child it would be. While there is no coffee in this cake, a warm cuppa is the perfect accompaniment. 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake adapted from Baking Bites

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For The Cake:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For The Cookie Crumble:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup quick cooking oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

To make the cookie crumble: In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture until well combined and the mixture is coarse and sandy. Stir in raisins and oats until mixed throughout. Set aside while you make the cake batter.

To make the cake: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

Blend in half of the flour mixture until just combined. Add all of the buttermilk and the vanilla and stir until  well mixed, then blend in the remaining flour mixture and mix until just combined, but do not overbeat.

To Assemble: Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Top with half of the cookie crumble. Pour remaining batter on top and spread carefully to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the remaining crumble evenly over the batter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before running a knife around the edge and carefully removing the springform ring. Allow to cool completely before serving. 

Store cake in an airtight container.

Thank you for the support and encouragement you all have shown me here at Lick The Bowl Good. I couldn't do this without each and every one of you. I hope to bring you many new and delicious creations in the upcoming year. Please be safe as you ring in 2013. Cheers!

~Monica H

Festive Muffins for Eating and Sharing

I promised you all another eggnog recipe, and here it is! Only this one uses real eggnog and is enhanced with rum extract and nutmeg to heighten the eggnog flavor throughout the muffins. And nothing says its the holidays more than eggnog and cranberries nestled together in a spicy crumb topped  muffin. There's freshly ground nutmeg in the muffin, as well as cinnamon and more nutmeg in the topping. They're warm and spicy, then you get a tart little bite of the bright cranberry. They're moist and tender, then crumbly and crunchy. Delicious and perfect when eaten with an eggnog spiced hot coffee. 

I've made these a couple of times now, tweaking along the way until I was happy with them and now I'm sharing with you...and the neighbors. I made a fresh batch yesterday morning to take to the neighbors on either side of us. They usually bring over my favorite pecan butter balls and tins of still-warm-from-the-oven gingerbread. I love eating homemade baked goods, that I didn't have to labor over, don't you? So whether you choose to make these for yourself on Christmas morning or as gifts, keep in mind that this recipe only makes 9 muffins, which might be a good thing, if you can't seem to put down the cookies and need portion control (like me). 

Cranberry Eggnog Crumb Muffins from Monica h

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For the crumb topping:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

For the muffins:

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup eggnog
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Line 9 muffin cups with paper liners.  

To make the crumb topping: In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir to combine. Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until a coarse, sandy mixture forms. Refrigerate the mixture, while you make the muffin batter. 

To make the muffins: In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, melted butter, egg, eggnog, vanilla and rum extract. Stir until well combined.  

Add flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg to the wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated.  The batter may appear thick and dry, once you add the cranberries, it will loosen up a bit. Fold the chopped cranberries into the batter, but do not overmix. 

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin liners, filling them about two thirds of the way full.

Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly on top of the muffin batter.

  

Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or a until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Makes 9 muffins. 

I have one more festive recipe for you, so I'll be back in a couple days. Happy Wednesday! 

Road Trip Recap and Breakfast For Dinner

We headed out last Friday for a road trip to see family last weekend. I was concerned about travelling with Hayden but in reality he was wonderful and I could not have asked for a better travel companion. We did have some hiccups along the way, but surprisingly they had nothing to so with Hayden. We loaded up the truck and piled everyone in. We got about two hours out of town and started having issues with our vehicle. Out of nowhere it overheated and we found ourselves on the side of the road in the blistering heat, with white smoke pouring out the tail pipe and fluids bubbling under the hood. Not good. 

My brother and Mr. H saved the day and we barely made it to the nearest Ford dealership, only to be held up there for 3 hours. We had lunch, the service department diagnosed the problem and we tried to track down a rental car to get us to our destination. Long story short, our 9 hour strip turned into 13. Hayden got (understandably) restless about two hours out so we stopped, stretched our legs and got some dinner. Once we got back on the road he passed out and was peaceful the rest of the way, though we were all crammed into a minivan and uncomfortable. We made it to my grandma's house nearing midnight and had a great weekend. We ended up staying an extra day than planned but we got to visit family that we hadn't seen in years, including my new cousin that's only 3 weeks old. Love. 

The trip back home was a little less exciting but we were all so tired, hot and easily agitated. I don't think I've ever been so happy to back in my own home- I forgot how good it smelled and how great the A/C works :-). All this to say, that we survived our first road trip with the boy. And don't tell Mr. H, but I'd do it all over again just to spend more time with my family. I guess now it's time for me to talk about this breakfast casserole. It's delicious and I've made it several times over the past few months. I've made it with different meats and cheeses and it's always a hit. I make the full recipe and we eat on it for about 3 days, for either breakfast or dinner, and never tire of the leftovers. That's a rarity. 

Breakfast Casserole adapted from Confabulation In The Kitchen

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• 1- 20 oz. bag  Simply Potatoes shredded hash browns
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  
• 1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled (ham or bacon works well too)
  
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
  
• 5 large eggs
  
• 1 cup half n half or heavy cream
  
• A few dashes of hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place potatoes in a large bowl. Pour melted butter over potatoes and stir until well-combined. Line  anungreased 9x13-inch casserole dish with buttered potatoes, and press to make a crust. Bake 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are just crisped and brown on the edges. Remove dish from oven and set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk eggs, half n half or cream, hot sauce, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle sausage over potato crust then sprinkle the cheese over sausage to create even layers. Pour egg mixture over ingredients. 

Bake 12-20 minutes or until the eggs are set in the center and the edges are golden and bubbling.