Buttermilk Wafffles with Strawberry Topping

 My kids love having breakfast for dinner.  They think it is so much fun.   A few weeks ago I found this recipe for Buttermilk Waffles with a fresh strawberry topping in Shape Magazine and I ripped it out because I really wanted to try it.  It comes from Ellie Krieger, whom I absolutely love, because her recipes are healthy and they always turn out to be very delicious.  Plus, she uses mostly low-fat buttermilk instead of a ton of oil or butter, which is something I do all the time when I make quick breads or muffins.  I also really liked that she only used honey to sweeten the waffles as well as the topping. 

I made the topping a few days in advance when I was cutting up strawberries for something else and I am glad I did because I think it tasted great chilled.   I doubled the recipe for the waffles, so that I could freeze some for a quick breakfast option on school days and I was really glad that I did that too. These were yummy and the sauce was perfect with the waffles.


Buttermilk Waffles with Strawberry Topping

by Ellie Krieger via Shape Magazine

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

2 Tablespoons toasted wheat germ

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry Topping, recipe follows

confectioners' sugar, optional

 Preheat a waffle iron.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through salt). In another medium bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil, honey and vanilla.

 Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing only enough to combine them. The batter will be somewhat lumpy.

Coat the waffle iron with cooking spray.  Ladle enough batter to cover 3/4's of the surface, close lid, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Repeat with remaining batter.  Serve topped with strawberry mixture and an optional dusting of powdered sugar.

Strawberry Topping:
16 ounces strawberries, fresh or frozen (unsweetened, thawed)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup

  In a medium saucepan over a low flame, stir together strawberries, lemon juice, maple syrup, and bring to a gentle boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes, until the liquid has thickened slightly.  Flavor with additional maple syrup if desired.  Remove from heat and set aside.

 

Baked Breakfast Oatmeal Pie

   As part of Pie Week, I wanted to include some Breakfast pies.  I found this recipe for Baked Breakfast Oatmeal Pie  and just knew it would be perfect.  My youngest daughter and I stirred together the ingredients the night before and the next morning I popped it in the oven while my kids were getting ready for school.

 It was perfect! It is basically just a baked oatmeal recipe, but looks like pie because it is baked in a pie plate.  I reduced the sugar by over half, just because my kids and I don't really like our oatmeal too sweet (I usually don't add any sweetener to my own) and used almond milk instead of normal milk.

This was a big hit.  My kids enjoyed a slice warm out of the oven and they loved snacking on the leftovers, cold, right out of the fridge.  There are so many ways that you could make variations of this, like adding fruit or making a savory option.  It really seems like there are limitless possibilities and it is super quick to throw together.

I also saw this Pigs in a Blanket Pie and thought it was just too funny to pass up.  I whipped up some whole wheat pancake batter and put turkey sausage links into the batter.  The only problem was that it took longer than I expected to bake through, so my kids had to wait until after school to eat it since it wasn't ready before they left.  Fun idea though.

I also used  the filling from this recipe for Savory Breakfast Pies with Cheddar Cheese Crust , but used pizza dough as the crust.  I made them for dinner and they were a big hit.  I used canadian bacon instead of ham in the filling and also omitted the milk and used a little bit of oil instead of butter to cook the onion/veggies.  They turned out really cute and my family loved them.  I didn't get a picture quick enough though.  They ended up looking like little calzones.

 
Here is the recipe for Baked Breakfast Oatmeal Pie
* I used 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
* I reduced the sugar to  a little less than 1/4 cup
* I used almond milk (original) instead of regular milk 



 

  

Crepes with Peanut Butter and Jam

  I made these crepes about 6 weeks ago and took a picture, even though I wasn't sure if I would be posting recipes anymore.  I saw the recipe in Food Network Magazine- it was a little blurb about Giada's new cookbook. 

Crepes are something that we ate on Sunday evenings sometimes, when I was growing up.  My mom would make a large stack of them and we would fill them with fresh or frozen fruit and a little sprinkle of powdered sugar.  They were a special treat for us  and I absolutely loved them.

 When I was a newly married person, about 11 years ago, I decided to make crepes for my husband.  He wasn't a fan and I didn't want to eat a whole stack of crepes by myself, so I didn't make them again.  It has been so long since I made crepes, I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it correctly!

 The good news is, that after a few messed up crepes that were too thick, too pale, and misshapen, I got the technique down and we were able to enjoy this meal as a Breakfast for Dinner.  I made these on a night that I knew my husband wouldn't be home to eat with us, so there were no complaints at all.  These were fun too because they were filled with peanut butter,  jam (I used Crofters Fruit Spread) and fresh blueberries.

Here is the recipe for Crepes with Peanut Butter and Jam

 We enjoyed these with Alfresco Wild Blueberry Chicken Sausage Links


   

Pumpkin Brownie Waffles

My son celebrated his 10th birthday last week and our celebrations include allowing the birthday child to choose a fun birthday breakfast. A friend had told me about a recipe she saw for Brownie Waffles and since my son looovveeesss brownies, I figured they would be the perfect way to start his birthday. I searched for a recipe and saw quite a few that were simply made from a brownie mix, but I wanted a recipe that was a little bit more breakfast and less dessert. I also wanted it to be from scratch.

I made these Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes (per my son's request) for him to share as the special friday snack at school, so I didn't really want to serve him a completely sugar-filled crazy breakfast. I saw a recipe for Banana Brownie Waffles and decided to swap pumpkin puree for the mashed banana since my son doesn't really care for the taste of bananas in baked goods. I also added some mini chocolate chips to the batter.

I didn't really think about the fact that bananas are much sweeter than pumpkin puree, so these waffles were not very sweet by themselves, but very chocolate-y. I guess you could add a little bit more sugar to the batter if you wanted to. The kids enjoyed these topped with syrup, strawberries and whipped cream. I spread a little bit of peanut butter on one and topped it with sliced strawberries. It was a delicious splurge of a breakfast and we had a very happy birthday boy.

Pumpkin Brownie Waffles adapted from these Banana Brownie Waffles
1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifter
1/4 cup wheat germ
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
(I did this the night before, covered it and put it in the fridge.)
3. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, pumpkin puree, eggs, canola oil and vanilla extract until well blended. Gently stir in mini chocolate chips.
Pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
4. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour batter in the center of waffle iron and cook until done. Repeat with remaining batter and serve with syrup, whipped cream, strawberries or peanut butter.

Here is the original recipe for Pumpkin Brownie Waffles

Brussels Sprout-Sweet Potato Hash

I saw this recipe on facebook and loved the idea of a savory, veggie-filled breakfast. Since now I like sweet potatoes, I was really excited to try this dish. I also love brussel sprouts, so I knew this had to be good.

This quick breakfast was delightful. It took a few minutes to prep the vegetables, but once they were ready, the whole thing came together really fast. Because the sweet potatoes are finely shredded/grated, they really don't take that long to cook. I added a fried egg on the side and decided to add this to my weekly breakfast menu. It's fast, nutritious and soo good!

Here is the recipe for Brussels Sprout-Sweet Potato Hash

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

I'm late! I'm late! Better late than never though, so I present to you the Fig Swirl Coffee Cake that I made for this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club.
Jamie was our host this month and she chose the theme Breakfast for Dinner. We were able to choose any breakfast food from Cooking Light and here is what everyone came up with.

Jerry started us off with Fig and Nut Breakfast Cookies,
Roz added a wonderful Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon, Onions, and Cheese,
Sandi brought Grits Souffle,

Jamie made Ham and Swiss Egg Sandwiches, and

Val decided on Blueberry and Maple-Pecan Granola Parfaits.

I have had my eye on this Fig-Swirl Coffeecake for quite some time and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make this beautiful creation. A yeast dough is filled with a fig/orange juice combination and then it is rolled up and cut and carefully placed in a beautiful shape. It is a delightful combination. Because it is a yeast dough, it does have to rest and rise a couple of times, so be sure to plan that time in if you want to serve this for breakfast.

Make sure you check out all the delicious recipes that were made for this Breakfast for Dinner!

Here is the recipe for Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

My daughter requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the first day of school. For some reason, when it comes to cinnamon rolls, I am always looking for some sort of shortcut. A few years ago, I found these cinnamon biscuits and they were fabulous. I still make them, but decided to find something new for this year.

I did some sort of search and found these cinnamon roll muffins. They were perfect! The process is easy. Mix up the dough, roll it out, spread the filling, roll it up, slice, bake and serve! I love that the dough uses buttermilk because I always have low-fat buttermilk in my fridge. These were such a fun way to start the first day of school and everyone loved them!

Here is the recipe for Cinnamon Roll Muffins
* I used low-fat buttermilk

Ina Gartens Fresh Peach Cake

Once again, I present a bad photo, but this cake was delish!
My friend and her 5 children spent the night with us and she had purchased some peaches from a fruit stand. We decided to make this cake for breakfast and it was really good. It is a basic coffeecake batter and I used buttermilk instead of sour cream. You layer the cake batter, sliced peaches and a cinnamon-sugar mixture and then bake the cake. The house smelled absolutely wonderful and we all enjoyed this summer-y breakfast!

Here is the recipe for Fresh Peach Cake
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of sour cream

Peanut Butter Waffles

I made these waffles almost 2 months ago when my brother and sister were here visiting. I had spotted them before that, but wanted to wait until we had visitors to make them. My sister and brother both love peanut butter, so I knew they would be a welcome breakfast treat.

These waffles were very tasty. The peanut butter flavor was noticeable, but not completely overwhelming. They were really good with bananas and strawberries on top. Now that school is back in session, I can't wait to make a big batch to have for breakfast on a school morning.

Peanut Butter Waffles
from Everyday Food, May 2011

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 cups buttermilk (I used low-fat)
2 large eggs
bananas, maple syrup for serving (optional)

Preheat waffle iron. If you want to make all of the waffles before serving, preheat oven to 275 F, set a wire rack inside of a rimmed baking sheet and pop in the oven.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In your blender combine the melted butter and peanut butter, and blend until smooth. Add the buttermilk and eggs and blend to combine. Pour the wet ingredients from the blender over the dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated.

Fill the wells of the waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. You want the waffles golden brown when they're finished. Serve with bananas and maple syrup, if desired. (Transfer the waffles to the wire rack in the oven to keep warm if not serving immediately.)

Homemade Whole Wheat Strawberry Pop Tarts

Pop Tarts. I remember using some of my own money when I was a kid to buy a pack of Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts. My mom never, ever bought them and it was a treat to eat those things right out of the package.
I have seen a ton of recipes floating around for Homemade Pop Tarts. I decided to make some when I realized I had some leftover whole wheat dough in the freezer from this crostada. I had just enough dough to make 3 or 4 pop tarts. I decided to make a strawberry filling because for some reason, frosted strawberry poptarts are the most iconic to me.

The filling was great and so was the dough, but the icing was way too sweet. All of my kids thought it was just too much, although the texture of the icing was perfect.

These breakfast/dessert treats won't make an appearance very often in the kitchen, but it was a fun thing to try. Oh and if you live nearby- Happy first day of school!!

Here is the recipe for Perfect Whole Wheat Pie Crust from the Cheeky Kitchen

Here is the recipe for the Fresh Strawberry Filling and Glaze
* We all thought the glaze was too sweet. The consistency was perfect but it was just too much

White Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins & Chocolate Ricotta Muffins

Do you know what tomorrow is? Anybody???

It is the first day of school. I can't believe our summer is over already. It flew by and I'm not sure that I am ready for it to be over! I want more beach time, more sleeping in, more lazy days, and more fun in the sun!

Well, the good news is that we can still go swimming if we want too and of course, school can be fun too. I just love summer and wish it could last all year round.
One thing that will certainly make school fun is having a scrumptious muffin for breakfast every once in awhile. Most of the time I like to keep the muffins I make on the really healthy side. I want them to taste healthy and to not be mistaken for a cupcake. But, every once in awhile, you have to have a little chocolate or some sprinkles in there, to keep it exciting.

Both of these muffins are recipes that we made over the summer when we had a few friends joining us for breakfast. They are both tender, delicious and definitely kid-friendly. My kids will be more than happy when either one of these muffins shows up on a school day morning to make it just a little bit special.


Here is the recipe for White Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Muffins

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Ricotta Muffins
* I used white wheat flour and subbed canola oil for the butter

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

My husband's grandmother has bunches of blueberry bushes in her yard and those berries were ready for picking a few weeks ago. Luckily we had a morning that wasn't too hot or humid- it was actually a little bit overcast, and we set out to pick a large amount of blueberries.

The kids were great helpers and we ended up bringing home over a gallon of fresh blueberries. Frozen blueberries are a favorite treat of my husband's and my kids, so I made sure to freeze a bunch of them, but I also wanted to make a breakfast treat with some of the berries.

I decided on this recipe because it doesn't contain whole grain flour. That may sound funny, but I wanted to make sure that my husband would eat these pancakes and he usually turns his nose up to the usual whole wheat pancakes or waffles I make. So these were definitely a treat for him. The batter is nice and thick and it holds the blueberry perfectly. These pancakes were light, fluffy and chock full of beautiful blueberries.


Here is the recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
* I used skim milk, low-fat buttermilk and subbed canola oil for the melted butter
* I added the blueberries to the pancakes after the batter was on the griddle, so the berries wouldn't run and turn the pancakes blue

Zucchini and Lime Olive Oil Scones

Here are the results of the Eggland's Best Eggs giveaway. I used a random number generator, copied the widget results below, and the winner is commenter #21- Whitney who said "I LOVE deviled eggs and omelets!! I want to make those avocado deviled eggs for a BBQ I am going to next week!Thanks for the idea!"

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 22 Result: 21 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Today I am sharing a breakfast treat that I made when my sister and brother were here visiting. I wanted something fun that contained zucchini and saw this recipe for scones.
They turned out good, but weren't really scone-like in texture. They were more like muffins. My youngest daughter absolutely loved them.

I did make a few changes which I listed below.
Have a great day everyone!

Here is the recipe for Zucchini and Lime Olive Oil Scones
*I used low-fat buttermilk in place of the heavy cream
* I omitted the sour cream in the glaze

Blueberry Coffee Cake

I made this Blueberry Coffee Cake for breakfast the other day and everyone thought it tasted like a giant blueberry muffin. There are no other flavors going on here, so it has a pretty basic taste. I had a slight problem getting mine out of the pan, some of the blueberries were abandoned on the bottom of the pan and it made me think that this could be served as a Blueberry Upside Down Cake because the blueberries sink to the bottom quite a bit.

All in all, it was a good little breakfast treat. Very simple and basic.

Here is the recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake from Cooking Light

Oatmeal Summer Squash Muffins

I was wondering the other day why you never really hear about or see recipes for summer squash muffins or summer squash cake. There are a million recipes for zucchini cake, with chocolate and all sorts of spices, but not so many with summer squash. Summer squash and zucchini are sort of the same thing, so I am thinking that either one would work in most any recipe. But, I don't know, maybe there is something special about zucchini.

I finally found a summer squash muffin recipe and tried it out. It is a really interesting one because these muffins aren't really that sweet. I really liked that about them, but they still have a interesting hint of spices/vanilla. I enjoy breakfast muffins that don't taste like they should be dessert and these definitely fall into that category. They were almost savory, but not quite. Really intriguing. I froze some of them because my sister and brother and coming to town for a visit and my brother is a muffin lover. So- we will soon see how they do from the freezer!

Oatmeal Summer Squash Muffins as seen on Modern Beet
adapted from Simply in Season
makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 Tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1 egg
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
2 cups grated summer squash

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a medium-large bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine egg,buttermilk, oil, and honey. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Gently fold in squash.

Fill lined or well-greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

With the overflowing amount of zucchini that I have at my disposal, it was only a matter of time before some sort of zucchini bread/muffins was made. I posted a few zucchini muffin recipes here in the past and as usual, I wanted to try something new.
My son requested that chocolate chips be involved, so I found a muffin recipe that looked good and decided to change it up a little bit. Well, actually a lot of changing went on in here.

I used only white wheat flour and substituted low-fat buttermilk for most of the butter/oil called for. I added a few Tablespoons of canola oil, (2-3), and hoped for the best when I popped these guys into the oven. I also had to omit the nuts/dried fruit and add mini chocolate chips to keep my son happy.

Success!! I love it when that happens to a recipe that I feel like I modify quite a bit.
These were great- We loved them.


Here is the recipe for Zucchini Muffins from Simply Recipes
* Instead of butter, I used a combination of mostly low-fat buttermilk and a few Tablespoons of canola oil
* I used white wheat flour
* Instead of adding nuts or dried fruit, I added mini chocolate chips

"Cooking School"- French Toast, 2 ways

Either one of these versions would make a great breakfast on a holiday morning like today.

Let me explain the "Cooking School" in the title.

It all started when we made these Bunny Buns ( the recipe is at the bottom of that post- it's really just a fancy way of twisting orange rolls). My daughter decided that she wanted to have a weekly "Cooking School" where she picked something and we made it together. Please forgive the formality of the title, but that is just what she said. I am by no means qualified in any way to call it that or teach, but it is what we are going with. :D

I decided that since summer was upon us, that this would be a great way to spend some time together in the kitchen.

Her first request- French Toast.

French Toast is not something that I make often. I guess because I usually feel like it doesn't come out quite right.
Well folks- "Cooking School" has cured the problem. I decided that we would make French Toast 2 ways- the traditional way and the baked way.

I searched for a basic French Toast recipe and found one by Alton Brown that fit the bill. It had a few extra steps that I have never seen before, but I have watched an episode or two of Good Eats, so I knew that if anyone had perfected a technique, scientifically, it was him. He uses half & half in the custard mixture and has you let the bread drip over a wire rack before you cook it, but I think what gives his French Toast the perfect texture and taste is the last step. He has you warm the oven and the french toast goes into the hot oven for 5 minutes, which puffs it up and makes it turn out restaurant style. We topped our french toast with a homemade strawberry sauce and strawberry whipped cream.

Baked french toast is just a slightly healthier version of bread pudding, in my opinion. I have made it a few times in the past. This recipe is basic and very good. We loved it.

Of course we didn't make these 2 recipes in the same day, but it was a lot of fun.

My daughter decided that the next series in our "Cooking School" should be salad, because these were a little on the rich side!


Here is the recipe for French Toast from Alton Brown
* We used real maple syrup instead of honey
* We used challah and topped it with a homemade strawberry sauce & strawberry whipped cream
* We only used 2 Tablespoons of butter to cook the french toast in our electric skillet in 2 batches

Here is the recipe for Baked French Toast with Blueberries from Giada de Laurentiis
* We used sourdough bread

Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Sometimes there is an item that you see and for some reason, from that moment on, You cannot get it out of your mind.

This coffee cake was one of those items.
I don't even know how I found it. I think I was interested in Meyer Lemons and what to make with them, and I found this huge coffee cake. I was going to make it and then didn't.
Well, I bought more Meyer Lemons and then I did. I made this gigantic coffee cake for absolutely no reason. No reason at all.

This coffee cake has two layers of quickly boiled Meyer Lemon slices in it. It also has the most struesel topping that I have ever seen in my entire life.
And it is good. Really, really good.
The only thing I would do differently next time is to make sure that all my Meyer Lemon slices were exactly the same thickness, by using a mandoline or food processor with the slicing blade to slice them, instead of relying on my own slicing skills. Some of the slices were a little too thick and tasted just a tad bitter.

Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of sour cream
* I add 1 1/2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice to the cake batter