Overnight Apple French Toast

I originally posted this in 2009. I made it for company a few of weeks ago. I thought it was delicious without any additional sauce. And french bread is better than Texas Toast.

This is a recipe from one of my cookbooks (Gooseberry Patch).
I don't make it often but it is DELICIOUS!
A great breakfast to make ahead- makes the morning easy!

1 C. brown sugar, packed
1/2 C. butter

3 eggs
1 C. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. vanilla
4 Granny Smith Apples peeled and sliced thin
9 slices day-old French bread

Combine brown sugar, butter in saucepan and heat until thick. Pour into an ungreased 13”x9” pan. Arrange apples slices on top of syrup. Mix eggs, milk and vanilla together in bowl and dip French bread in mixture. Arrange bread on top of apple slices. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove 30 minutes before baking and uncover.
Bake at 350˚ for 35-40 min. or until the top of the bread is browned.
Sauce (optional):
1 C. applesauce 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
10 oz. jar apple jelly 1/8 tsp cloves
Combine and heat, serve over french toast

Three Pepper Oat Pilaf

originally posted 8/6/08.

This recipe came from a magazine. Served as breakfast. It is one of our favorites! And talk about healthy!

1/2 C. chopped red sweet pepper
1/2 C. chopped yellow sweet pepper
1/2 C. chopped fresh mushrooms (or 1 4 oz. can)
1/2 C. sliced green onions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 C. old-fashioned oats
3/4 C. chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbs. snipped fresh basil

1. In a large nonstick skillet cook sweet peppers, mushrooms, green onions and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium.
2. In a medium bowl lightly beat eggs with a fork. Add oats; toss until well combined. Add oat mixture to vegetable mixture in skillet. Cook about 5 minutes or until oats look dry and separated, stirring occasionally. Add broth, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more or until liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently (oats will remain slightly chewy). Stir in basil. Serve immediately.
I never measure exact amounts of peppers or green onions- I just use what I have. Basil is best fresh and is really easy to grow.

Puffed FRENCH TOAST!

Warning: If you are looking for a low-fat healthy breakfast- this is not it!
This recipe is from my sister Becca. We had this at Lake Powell. It is very filling and definitely a special occasion breakfast. They are almost like donuts.

2 Eggs
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
12 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally

In large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4” of vegetable oil (not olive oil) over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it’s just right.

Working quickly, take each ½ slice of bread and soak it both sides in the milk/egg/flour mixture. If you leave it in too long, it will get soggy, but you want to make sure enough of the egg mixture has soaked into the bread. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice crispy crust has formed on each side (probably 3-5 minutes per side; you really need to babysit them and make sure they’re cooking correctly) and then remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. While cooking remaining French toast, keep cooked pieces warm in an oven set to the lowest temperature it will go.

When ready to serve, roll each piece in cinnamon sugar. If you’re feeling extra naughty, go ahead and drizzle a little maple syrup, buttermilk syrup, or scoop some honey butter on top.

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

This is a recipe from Taste of Home.

2 1/2 C. flour ( I use 1/2 whole wheat)
1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 C. canned pumpkin
1/2 C. buttermilk (add 1 tsp. lemon juice to milk to substitute)
1/4 C. Canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. chopped pecans
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips (not in original recipe)
Crumb Topping:
1/3 C. packed brown sugar
1/3 C. finely chopped pecans
1/4 C. flour
1/4 c. cold butter

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in pecans. Fill six greased jumbo muffin tins 3/4 full. Do not over fill!
In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans and flour. Cut butter in until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. This is the best part of the muffins!
Bake at 375˚ for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm. Yield: 6 Jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins.

Swedish Pancakes

My Mom served a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) when she was 21. This recipe comes from her friend Monica in Sweden. I grew up loving these pancakes (more like crepes). My Mom made a cookbook for me when I graduated from high school and she included this recipe.

2 eggs
2 1/2 C. milk
2 T. oil
1 1/4 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Whip up the eggs together with milk and oil, adding the flour and salt while mixing.
Cook on skillet that has been sprayed with a little vegetable oil spray or has a little melted butter on it. Pour batter in center of skillet and turn skillet so batter thins into a large circle (my Mom is an expert at this!) Serve with strawberry jam, frozen peaches, whipped cream (optional) and sprinkle with powdered sugar. The trick to this recipe is making them faster than they are eaten. It's almost impossible!

German Pancake

This is a fun breakfast for the kids to help with!

6 eggs
1 C. milk
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 C. butter
Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored. Add milk, flour and salt.

Heat butter in 9x13 pan. When melted, pour batter in. Bake at 450˚ for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot with maple syrup. Yum!

CINNAMON ROLLS!!!

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law. Her cinnamon rolls are famous- no kidding! But- I have learned that just because I follow the same recipe doesn't mean they turn out quite as incredible as hers. Last night I decided to make a batch and they turned out really good.... almost as good as Merlene's! Here is MY version of her cinnamon rolls.

Start by making this dough:
Never Fail Rolls
2 Tbl. Yeast
1 tsp. sugar
Dissolve in 1 Cup lukewarm water
6 Cups flour
1/2 C. Sugar
1/3 C. Canola Oil
1 Tbl. salt
3 Tbl. Powdered milk

Mix together, add yeast mixture after it has raised a few minutes. Add 1 1/2 Cups lukewarm water. Add flour until you can knead it. Knead 5 minutes, raise once or twice depending on time.

1 1/2 C. sugar

1/2 Cup cinnamon

1 C. butter

Mix sugar, and cinnamon together, and melt butter on stovetop. Roll dough into 18” x 27” rectangle. Spread dough with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Start rolling from the short end, and roll into a log. Cut cinnamon rolls with serrated knife about 1 ½” thick, put in pan that has been coated with butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract

1/4 c. butter

Biscuits & Gravy

Biscuits and Gravy is one of Joe's favorite breakfasts. I don't make it often, to say the least. But it is delicious! Homemade biscuits are the best. In this photo I used Krusteaz mix for convenience. It took a long time before I was confident enough to make the gravy. Once I thought I would add some flavor since the sausage we had didn't have much flavor. So I added chicken bouillion. That wasn't a big hit. In fact- it was horrible. Using a good flavored sausage is worth it.

Gravy
1lb Pork Sausage
1/4 C Flour
about 2 C. Milk
Salt and Pepper

Brown sausage in large skillet. Drain grease into bowl. Return sausage to skillet and up to 2 tsp. drained drippings. Sprinkle flour over sausage and mix around until sausage appears coated. Add milk. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. The gravy will thicken. Once gravy reaches desired thickness, shut off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 C. all-purpose fluor
1 C. whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. butter softened
1 C. milk

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a cup or mason jar and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Tip: If you don't have a rolling pin handy- you can use a pint size jar to roll the dough and the use it to cut out the biscuits. When it's time for clean up you can us the open end of the jar to scrape the counter clean.

Easy Applesauce Puffs

This recipe is from Aunt Denise. She has some of the best recipes! I tried these muffins for the first time and the kids really liked them.

2 C. biscuit or pancake mix
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. applesauce
1/4 C. milk
1 egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. oil

Combine biscuit mix, sugar, and cinnamon. Add applesauce, milk, egg , and oil. Fill greased muffin pan 2/3 full. Bake at 400˚ for 12 minutes. Remove from pan. Let cool for a few minutes. Dip tops in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar mixture.

Canadian Bacon Strata

This recipe was on Everyday Food. I love breakfast casseroles- and this uses toasted English muffins. Can be modified using less milk and throwing in hash browns as one of the layers. Softened butter for pan 4 English muffins, split, toasted, and cut in half ½ pound sliced Canadian bacon, about 10 slices, halved 1 ¼ cups (5 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese 1/3 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese 8 large eggs 3 cups milk 1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard Coarse salt and ground pepper ¼ teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco

Butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish (oval or square); set aside. In dish, alternately arrange, cut side down, muffin halves and Canadian bacon. Sprinkle with cheddar and Parmesan cheeses. Set aside.
1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper, and hot sauce until combined. Pour over muffins and bacon; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350°. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet; remove plastic wrap. Bake until puffed and set in the center (see note below), about 1 hour and 30 minutes. (Tent loosely with foil if strata starts to brown too quickly.) Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Note: With a paring knife, pierce the center of the cooked strata. If it feels firm and the knife comes out clean, the eggs have set and the strata is done.

Waffles

4 egg whites
2 C. buttermilk
2 C. Whole Wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C. canola oil

Heat waffle iron. Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Mix in remaining ingredients until smooth.
Pour batter from cup or pitcher onto center of the hot waffle iron. Bake about 5 minutes or until steaming stops. Remove waffle carefully.
Yield: about 8 seven-inch waffles.
We like to serve them with peanut butter and syrup.
Waffles

Butter Sauce

This is a recipe from our some college friends. We lived in a basement apartment and the couple above us (Jared & Michelle Bodily) invited us to breakfast and served french toast with butter sauce. We love it!! It makes a delicious breakfast.

1 cube butter
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1 C. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix together in sauce pan. Heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Serve over French Toast. Don't use any extra butter on toast. Freeze leftovers to use later.

Fluffy French Toast

This recipe is from Joe's mom. It is really yummy. I grew up making french toast with only eggs and milk but this makes it less of a guessing game on amounts.

1/2 C. flour
1 1/2 Tbs.sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 C. buttermilk (or substitute 2 C. milk with 2 tsp. lemon juice added)
6 eggs
1 Tbs. Cinnamon (optional)
1 loaf Texas Toast
Beat flour, sugar, salt, milk and eggs with rotary beater until smooth. Soak bread in batter until saturated.
Heat 1 Tbs. butter in skillet. Carefully transfer each bread slice to skillet. Cook until golden brown on each side. Serve with butter sauce.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I grew up loving whole wheat pancakes. I like them small and thin. This recipe comes from Joe's Mom. I usually double it...our kids love pancakes!
1 egg
1 C. buttermilk
2 Tbl oil
1 C. whole wheat flour
1 Tbl. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Beat eggs; add remaining ingredients in order listed and beat until smooth. Makes 10 4" pancakes, For a special treat drop white or dark chocolate chips or blueberries onto individual pancakes right after you pour the batter in the pan.

Yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 eggs
2 C. sugar
16 0z can Pumpkin
Beat together
Add 1 1/2 C. oil ( I always substitute 1 C. applesauce for 1 C. oil)
3 C. flour (can use whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pour into muffin tins. Bake @ 400˚ 12 min. (will take longer for larger muffins)
makes 2 dozen

Banana Chip Muffins

1 3/4 C. flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/3 C. canola oil
1/2 C. mashed ripe banana
1/2 C. unsweetened applesauce
1 C. miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 C. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. milk

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, oil, banana and applesauce. Stir dry ingredients into wet just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake @ 400˚ for 20 min.

Danish Puff

This pastry is a breakfast tradition in Joe's family on General Conference Sundays and on Christmas. It is so good that I always feel like I'm eating dessert for breakfast...it's a good thing it only comes a few times each year! Joe's Dad made this last Sunday so I stole a picture of it.
1/2 C. butter
1 C. flour
2 Tbl. water
1/2 C. butter
1 C/ water
1 tsp. almond extract
1 C/. flour
3 eggs
Powdered sugar glaze
chopped nuts
Cut 1/2 C. butter into 1 C. flour. Sprinkle 2 Tbl. water over mixture. mix. Round into ball; divide in h alf. On ungreased baking sheet, pat half into 12x 3 inch strip. Strips should be about 3 inches apart.
Heat 1/2 C. butter and 1 C. water to rolling boil in medium saucepan. Remove from heat and quickly stir in almond extract and 1 C. flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 min. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs all at once until smooth and glossy.
Divide in half; spread each half evenly over strips. Bake about @ 350˚ for 60 min. or until topping is crisp and lightly browned. Cool (topping will shrink and fall, forming the custardy top of this puff). Frost with glaze and sprinkle generously with nuts.
Glaze: 1 1/2 C. powdered sugar, 2 Tbl. butter, 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1-2 Tbl. warm water. beat in mixer on high speed.