Category Archives: Breakfast ideas

Apple Streusel Crescent Bites

These tasty little bites are not too sweet, in fact just right. I used my grandfathers apples leftover from his orchard last year ( I have been savoring them). I was cleaning out the refrigerator and noticed I was stock piling up on crescent rolls. Apparently I did not do inventory very well last time I went to the grocery store. This is a great way to use up some of the extra inventory. Plus I got to use my new pampered chef brownie pan again !!!

Ingredients:

1 package of reduced fat crescent rolls

3 medium apples cored, peeled and diced

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cooking Spray (canola oil is my favorite)

Streusel Topping

1/8 cup of cinnamon sugar blend (a good ratio is 1/4 cup sugar to 1 TB cinnamon)

1/8 cup AP flour

1 TB unsalted Butter (diced)

This recipe yields 8 streusel bites

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 and spray with cooking spray either a mini preportioned brownie pan or stand size muffin pan.

2. Take a medium sized nonstick saute pan and heat to medium low heat. Cooking spray the pan and add the diced apples and cinnamon.

Sauté for 5 to 7 minutes while the apples caramelize.

3. In the meantime take the crescent roll package and lay out the dough on cutting board. Seam together two of the crescent each making 4 rectangles. Once 4 rectangles are formed cut into 8 squares. As pictured below.

4. Take the squares and place them individually in the pan. Press the dough lightly down to form a vessel for the caramelized apples.

5. Add a TB and a half of the Caramelized apples into each vessel.

6. In a small bowl combine cinnamon sugar, flour and butter. Run the butter through your fingers with the sugar and flour to break into small particles.

7. Add one TB of cinnamon sugar mixture onto the apples.

8. Bake for 13 minutes on 350 degrees.

9. Let cool on wire rack in pan for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Spice Wheat Waffles

We had the pleasure of having my nephew stay the night. One of my favorite things to do when he stays is make breakfast with his help. Today we made homemade waffles.

By the looks of this picture I think he liked them okay!

This recipe yields 6 (6 1/2 inch in diameter) waffles

Ingredients:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup AP flour
1 tsp ground Cardamon
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup egg substitute or 4 egg whites
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 5.3 oz container of greek cinnamon vanilla or plain greek yogurt
1 tsp of vanilla extract (I prefer Mexican)
1 TB canola oil

Directions:

Take the first 8 ingredients and place them in a large bowl and whisk together ( this was the fun park for my nephew).

In a separate bowl whisk egg substitute, milk, sugar, vanilla, greek yogurt, & canola oil.

The kids can also help with this part.

Now pour the liquid batter into the dry ingredients.

Whisk until all the ingredients are incorporated with no signs of dry flour.

Heat your waffle iron according to manufacture’s directions.

Follow manufacture’s directions as to how much batter to fill the hot waffle iron with. My iron used about 2/3 cup but every iron is different.

Cook for as long as you like and again stick with the directions for your iron.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

I have been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for a while now and this recipe is a nice size for a small crowd. All the recipes I’ve encounter make 12 or 24 large rolls which has deterred me from making them. Little treats of sweetness are permitted from time to time especially on a Sunday morning with a nice cup of coffee. The smell of these tasty rolls in the oven will wake up your husband and have him asking for seconds. This recipe was adapted from TOH.

This recipe yields 8 small Rolls

Dough Ingredients:

79 milliliters of warm skim milk

2 1/2 TB of maple syrup

3 TB of unsalted butter (softened)

1/4 Tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp of active dry yeast

1 1/4 Cup of Bread Flour

1/4 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1 TB egg substitute

Filling Ingredients:

4 TB of Brown Sugar

1 TB of Bread Flour

2 Tsp of ground Vietnamese Cinnamon

3 TB of unsalted Butter

Maple Icing:

1/2 Cup of Confectioner’s Sugar

1 1/2 TB of Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 TB of Maple Syrup

1 Tsp skim milk

1/4 tsp of Mexican Vanilla

In standing mixer place the first seven ingredients in the bowl and set mixer with dough hook attachment. Use dough hook and knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes on medium speed. Dough will form a ball shape.

Cooking spray a glass bowl and place dough in bowl covered with plastic wrap for 60 to 90 minutes (or until dough doubles in size ).

Once dough has doubled; roll out

On lightly floured surface. Roll dough into one 12-in. x 7-in. rectangle.

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle evenly the brown sugar mixture over the rolled out dough.

Roll up jelly-roll style, starting from a long side; pinch seam to seal.

Cut in half with sharp knife.

Then half the halves and so on.

Until you get 8 slices. Place cut side down in one greased 8 x 8-in. baking pan.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes.

Bake at 375° for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter, syrup, vanilla, and enough milk to achieve desired consistency.

Spread over warm rolls. Yield: 8 rolls.

Apple Spice Oat Bars

We have an intern leaving us tomorrow and as a farewell I wanted to bake her a special treat. I used my Grandpa Harper’s Dehydrated Apples and my apple butter recipe. This recipe bakes really nice and is full of flavor!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup chopped dehydrated apples
1/3 cup chopped raisins
1 cup slivered almonds toasted
2 1/2 cup old fashion oats (not quick oats)
1 tsp ground Vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 tsp Mexican vanilla
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

This recipe yields: 12 bars

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 by 8 inch Pyrex glass dish with foil. Spray with cooking spray.

Mix wet ingredients in a bowl ( apple butter, honey, agave nectar, vanilla, peanut butter) and cinnamon.

Mix until incorporated.

Add oats to liquid batter and fold.

Now add almond slivers, apples, and raisins.

Fold in almonds, raisins, and apples mix by hand with spatula until all ingredients are spread evenly throughout.

Pour batter into foil lined and cooking sprayed 8 by 8 inch baking dish. Pat down the batter to make uniform and level so that the bars will bake evenly.

Bake on 325 degrees for 25 minutes and place in freezer to cool for at least one hour.

Remove the bars using the foil (which makes this job a lot easier than trying to cut in the pan.

Cut into 12 bars and enjoy!

Pumpkin Long Johns with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have the Wilton Long John Pan and have been trying to think of a good recipe to make to use it. I tend to use the doughnut pan more often when baking a breakfast.

Yields 5 to 6 large long johns

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray with canola oil cooking spray your Long John Pan.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2/3 Cup Sugar
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp good quality Vietnamese cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 cup pumpkin puréed
1 tsp if Mexican Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup low fat buttermilk
4 TB Canola Oil
1/2 cup Egg Substitute or 4 Egg Whites

Cream Cheese Glaze:
3 oz Reduced Fat (neufchatel) softened
2 tsp butter
1/2 teaspoon Mexican vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 TB Skim milk

Toppings:
Walnuts toasted 1/3 cup Chopped (optional)

Directions:
Place all dry ingredients in bowl and whisk together.

In a separate bowl place the wet ingredients.

Whisk together until incorporated.

Add dry ingredients into wet and whisk together well until there are no signs of flour visible.

Now place batter scant amount in 2/3 cup and add to the long john cooking sprayed pan.

Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until tooth picked inserted into center comes out clean.

Place on wire rack to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert & remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.

Once cooled completely ice with cream cheese frosting.

For an added touch sprinkle with Walnuts.

Hot Pepper and Egg Pizza

Egg Pizza

There was a restaurant my family used to go to back home and they had one of the best pizza’s in Youngstown. We would travel 30 minutes and wait 2-3 hours for a few pies (no joke) out of their brickoven. When we moved pizza was so expensive in the Burgh and mediocre. My husband and I practiced, and practiced making pizza dough and different variations of our hometown favorite pizzas (no offense Pittsburgh your pizza’s does not hold a candle to Northeast Ohio Pies). The first time I saw “egg pizza” on the menu I thought “yuck” but my mom ordered it and needless to say we loved it. Now this is something I make often for dinner or brunch.

Egg Pizza

Ingredients:

Prepared dough (store bought your favorite) This is our favorite: Best Pizza Dough Every time

Gouda Cheese 1 Cup or if you don’t have gouda cheese use mozzarella

Parm Regino cheese 2 tb

3 egg yolks and one egg ( beat w/ a fork)

a splash of fat free half & half (2 tb)

natures seasoning & sandwich sprinkle (or pizza seasoning)

banana hot rings ¼ cup

red hot pepper flakes (optional but recommended)

cornmeal for dusting

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 550 for an hour w/ pizza stone in the oven.

2) Roll pizza dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a circular shape with edges (which is extremely important later on to prevent the egg mixture from spilling out into the oven when baking. Place on a pizza piel that has been sprinkled with a small amount of cornmeal (to prevent the dough from sticking to the piel).

3) Decrease the oven temperature to 425 before placing the pizza in the oven.

4) Sprinkle the seasoning salt or sandwich sprinkle onto the dough evenly. Place the pizza on the pizza stone in the oven for 5 minutes on the stone.

5) Take out of oven, spray with cooking spray. Place the hot pepper rings evenly on the pizza and also the hot pepper flakes if you are interested in adding more heat.

6) Take eggs, and egg yolks along with the half and half and beat with fork to incorporate. One trick my husband and I learned is to place the cheese on get the pizza before placing the pie in the oven without the eggs. The best thing to do with the eggs is place the egg mixture in a pourable container kind of like a measuring vessel with pouring capability.

7) Once the pizza is in the oven pull out the oven rack with oven mitts and pour the liquid egg mixture evenly onto the pizza. This method prevents the eggs from running off the pizza when you are trying to place the pizza in the oven (lesson learned the hard way).

8) Place the pizza back in the oven for 12 minutes.

9) Remove from oven and sprinkle the freshly grated parm cheese.

Enjoy!

Apple Butter Sausage Casserole

My husband loves sausage and the combination of apples. We had my parents over for the weekend and I made this in the morning for brunch. It has a nice mix of savory and sweetness that the whole family can enjoy. This recipe was also inspired by my Mom’s love of apples and cheddar cheese combination.

Ingredients:
2 small apples peeled cored and sliced ( I used red delicious that my grandpa gave me from his orchard)
1/2 apple butter
1/2 pound original breakfast sausage ( you can use turkey sausage to cut the fat) cooked drained and blotted with paper towel
3 eggs (or 6 egg whites or 3/4 cup egg substitute to cut extra fat and calories)
3/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup heart healthy bisquick
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fat free cheddar or 2% reduced cheddar cheese

Yields 9 servings

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8 by 8 glass dish with canola oil cooking spray.

2. Mix milk, eggs, bisquick, salt and pepper in medium bowl and whisk until incorporated. Set aside.

3. Heat nonstick sauté pan on medium high heat and brown up sausage. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the meat well and blot with paper towels to remove extra fat and calories. Place the crumbled sausage in the nonstick pan and spread around evenly. Set aside.

4. Take the apple butter and spread it on top the sausage evenly.

5. In the meantime take apple slices and heat them in the same pan used for the sausage prep on medium heat and cook for 2-3 minutes to soften slightly and spread on top the sausage and apple butter in the glass dish.

6. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly on the top. Now pour the milk mixture evenly over top the sausage dish.

7. Back for 30 minutes uncovered and then remove from oven and throw the remainder of the cheese on top and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes until cheese is melted.

8. Remove from the oven and let sit on wire rack for five minutes before slicing into. Enjoy !

Eggs Benedict Casserole

I got my taste of home magazine a few weeks back and I have been dying to make the Eggs Benedict Casserole recipe on page 55. One of my husband’s favorite breakfasts is Egg’s Benedict. The original recipe made enough for 12 people so I cut it down to 1/3 of the original. Here is the original if you’d like to view it Eggs Benedict Casserole . I also tried to cut down the calories as well by using skim milk, whole wheat bread, & egg substitute.

Ingredients:
4 to 5 slices of toasted or stale wheat bread ( cut into 1″ pieces)
1/2 tsp paprika
3/4 cup egg substitute
3/4 cup skim milk
Pepper to taste
1 cup chopped ham
1/2 tsp onion powder

Hollandaise sauce
3 egg yolks
1 tsp lemon juice
1 TB melted butter
1/8 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup fat free half and half
1 tsp Dijon mustard

Spray an 8 by 8 glass baking dish with Cooking Spray.

Place 1/2 cup of ham on the bottom of the dish. I browned my ham up in the skillet for a few minutes (my ham was frozen). So adding this step helped crisp up the ham.

Now add the toasted/stale bread to the ham.

Pour milk mixture evenly over the bread and let rest for overnight or at least an hour.

Take out of refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before placing in preheated 375 degree oven. Sprinkle with paprika and pepper before placing into oven.

Bake covered for 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. In the meantime start the hollandaise sauce in double boiler.

Add the egg yolks, half and half, cream, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard whisk until incorporated.

Once the mixture starts to thicken add melted butter and continue to whisk.

Once the dish is removed from the oven pour the hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Granola Bars

If you didn’t know it by now, I’m sure you would have eventually guessed…I love pumpkin! My husband does too! I even made pumpkin Alfredo tonight for supper!

Tomorrow at work we are having a lunch and learn (without the lunch) unfortunately everyone is having to cut back. The plus side packing a lunch is less expensive and can be healthier! That said I decided to make us a fall snack for during the webinar. I cannot think of anything better than this wholesome snack.

Ingredients:
4 cups of old fashion oats
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 roasted pumpkin seeds (chopped)
1 TB of high quality pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
3/4 cup purée pumpkin (I used fresh)
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 honey
1 TB milled flaxseed
1/2 TB of pure vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line a 9 by 13 pan with foil & spray with cooking spray.