I must be the only person I know who wakes up in the morning ready for breakfast. Some people I know have the ability to wait for a few hours to get to their breakfast. Even when I am up and ready to leave for work at 6:30 in the morning, I’d be ready for breakfast. This is a breakfast that I rely on when I need something hearty and flexible that takes less than 10-minutes to put together, because I don’t have an hour to wait for its baked version. When I have fruits that are pretty ripe, I normally just drizzle a little bit of maple syrup and pile this up with whatever fruits that I have on hand. This is perfection in a bowl.
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups whole milk (can be substituted for other types of milk as well: low fat, soy, almond, etc)
2 cups of water
1-1/2 cups of quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 bananas
1 cup of dried fruits (I used cranberries in mine)
Maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and milk for topping (optional)
Directions
Bring milk and water to a simmer in a medium-sized pot. Add oatmeal and salt, stirring occasionally until thickened, around 4-5 minutes. Once thickened, add sliced bananas, and dried fruit. Cover the pot for about 2 minutes, and serve with whatever topping you’d like!
Yield: 4 servings
Slightly adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home
Pumpkin is an all-year long staple at our house. Not only that it is delicious and nutritious, it is also versatile. We love them in pancakes, waffles, cupcakes, and even mac ‘n cheese! I really can’t help that I have cans of them lining up inside my pantry. I opened a large can of pumpkin the other night so I could make these pancakes for my daughter’s breakfast, since she was on pancake mood, and I wanted a quick recipe that I could put together easily without an extra trip to the grocery store. Red suggested this pumpkin bar. Since it is an oil-based bar, it is almost like a cake, or a very moist quick bread. Definitely not denser like what you’d expect on a typical “bar” by any mean (as you can see from the picture).
I was a little cautious at first when I shared some of these with my co-workers and friends. I figured that I was the only person who loves pumpkin all year. I was wrong! Everyone enjoyed and raved about them. These bars were delicious on its own without the icing, but if you want extra “ooomph”, definitely add the icing. The icing recipe below makes it to a nice spreading consistency. But you can also thin it out even more and drizzle them on top of the bar. Looks like I’d be making this again soon.
Ingredients
Bars
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Icing
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.
Adapted from Paula Deen via Food Network
Yield: 24 bars
I’m probably the only food blogger left who hasn’t tried these wonderful buttery Soft Garlic Knots from King Arthur’s website. I made these amazing Golden Pull-Apart Butter Buns a couple of years ago, and remember thinking that I was looking for some sort of garlicky addition to it. I must say that if I were given the choices, I would always go for the garlic bread/toast/knots in the bread basket. These rolls were perfect for me: very tender yeasty crumbs with nice crust, slathered in garlicky goodness!
I skipped a couple of the ingredients listed in the original recipe, and adapted as written below – and they were perfect. My kitchen is slightly in the cold side (the granite counter top doesn’t help!), so it took me longer than an hour to get this to rise. Just like most yeasty type of breads, you just want to make sure you allow enough time for it to rise. Other than that, if you are one of the very few folks who hasn’t tried this amazing recipe, I would say make these now.
Ingredients
Dough
3 cups (12- 3/4 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup (1 ounce) powdered milk
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) potato flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil
1 cup (8 ounces) lukewarm water (Add an additional 2 tablespoons water in the winter, or if you live in a very dry climate)
Glaze
2 to 6 cloves peeled, crushed garlic
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon Pizza Seasoning or Italian seasoning, optional
Directions
Whisk the dough dry ingredients together to prevent the potato flour from clumping when liquid is added. Stir in the olive oil and water, then mix and knead (by hand, mixer, or bread machine) to form a smooth, elastic dough, adding additional water or flour as needed. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it, and allow it to rise for about 1 hour, until it’s doubled in bulk.
Divide the dough into 16 pieces, and roll each into a rope about 11 inches long; tie each rope into a knot, tucking the loose ends into the center. Place the knots on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes to about an hour, until very puffy looking.
For the glaze, whisk together the melted butter and garlic. Set it aside.
Bake the knots in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 18 minutes. They should be set, but only very lightly browned. Remove the knots from the oven, and brush or drizzle them with the garlic butter. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and pizza seasoning or Italian seasoning, if desired. Eat the knots warm.
Yield: 16 garlic knots
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
I live for the weekends! I get to eat breakfast sloooowly (well, maybe not that slow, but slower for sure)…. in my eat-in kitchen, next to my little daughter and hubby with my St. Bernard breathing on my elbow 
In the summer, or spring when the weather is a little bit warmer, I love to open the sliding door going out to the deck, and enjoy that morning breeze. Now, I just get to watch the sunshine from the inside, where it’s nice and warm!
One of my all-time favorite breakfast items is probably oatmeal. Yep, kind of hard to believe right? It sounds too healthy. I recall many years of eating instant oatmeal for breakfast at work and loving it. Red, on the other hand, doesn’t care for oatmeal very much. He claims that it has funny textures, whatever that means. I have, however, been wanting to try baked oatmeal at home, and I finally convinced him to try it. It uses two fruits that are favorites at my household, so I figured that my chance of winning over my audience (of two) is definitely higher than 50%. To my pleasant surprise, everyone loved it! We skipped the topping and I thought it was perfect on its own. Red describes this dish like a “warm, soft oatmeal cookie”, which was why he loved it. We polished this off, and Red actually requested that we make this again soon. How about that for a happy me???
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for serving
1 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or spray a 1 and 1/2-quart casserole dish with either butter or cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, half of the walnuts, the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another separate small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, half of the melted butter, and the vanilla.
Place the sliced banana pieces in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle about two-thirds of the fresh blueberries over the top of the bananas, then cover the blueberries with the oat mixture. Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the milk as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and walnuts over the top of the oats.
Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set.
Remove the oatmeal from the oven and drizzle the remaining butter over the top and serve. Add your fave toppings.
Yield: 2-4
Adapted from Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson as seen on The Curvy Carrot
I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas! I unexpectedly took a little time off from blogging because our family got a little sick just before Christmas break from a stomach bug, but we recovered just enough strength for a family visit for Christmas. I really just prefer more intimate and low key Christmas celebrations. You’re probably thinking why the heck is she posting a WHOLE WHEAT (read: healthy) muffin recipe in the middle of the holiday season. Rest assured that these muffins didn’t actually taste “healthy” (you know, the tough texture, and bland flavors)! Tasty healthier treats like this are my favorite to make during holiday times to balance with all of the sweets and goodies that only show up in special occasions.
The combination of apple sauce, buttermilk, and canola oil really made these muffins moist, delicious, and had pretty delicate texture considering that it uses whole wheat pastry flour. I have to admit that whole wheat flour doesn’t work in all recipes, it’s not as easily substituted into recipes that call for all purpose flour. But I wanted to take a chance on this anyways since I needed a new whole wheat muffin recipe using apples (my daughter’s all-time favorite fruit, which thankfully can now be found all year long). I’m really glad that I tried these, because I really liked how they turned out (or I wouldn’t have posted it ) They weren’t very sweet, but definitely delicious, hearty and satisfying.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla.
Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.
Yield: 16-18 muffins
Adapted from Ellie Krieger as seen on Food Network
I thought that it’s only appropriate that I post a gingerbread recipe this month, since Christmas is only several days away. I made these Gingerbread cupcakes a couple of years ago and remember how delicious the flavors were, although I thought that the texture was a bit too dense as cupcakes. I was in the middle of the first trimester of my pregnancy with my daughter at that time, and I remember not loving food in general as much I normally do (even ice cream!). I decided to try this recipe again this year to make sure that my taste buds weren’t comprised. I came to the same result and opinion: wonderful flavor and dense texture, so we ended up enjoying them as muffins (worked for us!). I had about six cupcake leftovers and decided to turn them into these yummy truffles. They’re basically just cake balls, dipped in chocolate. 
This truffle “recipe” is very versatile, you can use this as a base of any cake truffles combination. If your cupcakes have denser texture, you may need more cream cheese. The flavor combo here is really endless, so you can’t go wrong. One of my favorites is this Red Velvet Cake Truffles. I have also used leftover frosting as the binder instead of cream cheese when I didn’t have any cream cheese at the house, and it’s like eating a bite-sized cake without having to worry about a plate, fork or napkin On a final note, if you are patient, they are also awesome treat to have in the freezer. So you can stash a few extra for those long days that you need a little treat for yourself.
Truffles Ingredients
6 cupcakes, recipe below
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
12-oz melting chocolate (I used white chocolate)
Truffles Directions
Mix all of the crumbled cake and cream cheese frosting together. Form them into a 1/2-inch diameter balls. Refrigerate for approximately 10 minutes.
In the meanwhile, melt chocolate either in microwave (at 50% power), or over double broiler.
Dip cake balls into melted chocolate. Let set for a few minutes and store them in airtight container in the refrigerator.
Yield: approximately 2 dozens
Cake Ingredients
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulphered molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
Cake Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 jumbo muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
Yield: 18 cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcake
I love the combination of flavors of both sweet and savory in one bite so I knew that I wanted to try this cheddar pie dough as soon as I saw the recipe. I really didn’t think that I would consider doing a post on this, but I just had to share my recent discovery with my readers. Plus, I thought that this was an appropriate submission for my bake along group whose November’s theme is “Savory Treats”, hosted by Jessica at the Jey of Cooking.
I made the whole recipe and ended up with two disks of dough. I used one to make a variation of this Asparagus and Ham Quiche (but I used Bacon and Potatoes), and really LOVED how it turned out. It was really like eating a cheese cracker instead of a regular pie crust. I still have the other disk in the freezer which I plan use as a an apple galette. This pie dough is really versatile, if you are open to having the salty-and-sweet combo, you can use it either as a savory pie like I did, or substitute it in your regular dessert pie crust. If you have never tried it, give it a shot and let me know how you like it!
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
Directions
Pulse flour and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Drizzle 1/4 cup water evenly over mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to hold together (dough should not be wet or sticky). If dough is too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse. Add cheese; pulse until combined.
Shape dough into 2 disks, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes or up to overnight.
Yield: (2) single-crust dough
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts
I hope you’re not sick yet of seeing another pumpkin recipe on my blog , because this is an awesome variation of my now go-to Whole Wheat Pancake recipe that I just had to blog about again! I actually started making them pretty regularly since I first tried them earlier this year. It is fluffy and light (thanks to the buttermilk addition), moist from the pumpkin puree and just so darn good. It is so delicious that I actually love the slight wheat flavor in it and wonder why we don’t enjoy these little cakes more often for breakfast since they are actually pretty healthy as well. I ran out of the straight-up whole wheat flour and used white whole-wheat flour, and they turned out beautiful. This pumpkin variation is the only one that my toddler daughter loves to munch on. My sister loves banana version of this. Either way, you can’t go wrong with these pancakes.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Ingredients
1- 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup pumpkin puree
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
Directions
Make the pancakes: Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whisk together flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in buttermilk, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Let stand 10 minutes (if batter thickens, stir in 1 tablespoon water).
Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Spoon in 1 tablespoon batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep warm in oven while you cook remaining batter. Serve with compote.
Yield: 16 pancakes
I first learned about olive oil cake last summer. Never had it before, but it seemed to be all over the blogs and also the cooking magazines that I subscribed to. I never got around to making it last year, but the idea of making it still stuck in the back of my mind. Most people, including myself, whenever trying to lighten up any type of quick breads would consider using oil instead of butter, so why not olive oil? I thought it was a clever idea! Fast forward to this fall, when I saw this recipe in my cooking magazine – a pumpkin bread using olive oil. Done! This bread is extremely moist from the pumpkin puree, olive oil, and honey. Each slice gives off the fall flavors that I love so much, like cinnamon and nutmeg. Because this bread was super moist, it also stayed good for a week. I ran out of whole wheat flour, so I used all white whole-wheat flour and it tasted great. I think you can’t go wrong either way.
I’m so glad that I tried this recipe. I may try similar substitution in other quick bread recipes in the future. For our What’s Baking group in October, the theme is fall flavor, so I thought that this would be an appropriate post for that. If you are looking for some more fall-themed goodies to drool over, check out the rest of the post in Ange’s The Tiny Tyrant’s Kitchen.
Adapted from Fine Cooking, September 2011
Ingredients
Cooking spray
3-1/4 oz. (3/4 cup) whole wheat flour
3 oz. (2/3 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbs. unsalted pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas; optional)
Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk both flours, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, oil, and honey until well combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a large spoon just until evenly incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter. Sprinkle the top with the pumpkin seeds (if using), pressing them down lightly. Bake until the top is browned and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. (If the bread begins to brown too much before it’s fully baked, lay a piece of aluminum foil on top.) Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then transfer the bread to a rack to cool completely before slicing.
Yield: 1 loaf
With my recent move, I haven’t been spending as much time as I normally would like to in the kitchen. First, the new house. While it is gorgeous, and everything that I wanted (except a few things), it is also 25% smaller than our old house. It has taken all of my creative juices (and my hubby’s as well) trying to squeeze everything into this new house and organize it to the way that everything we need is still accessible. But since Red had a birthday recently, he requested homemade waffles (and a frozen chocolate peanut butter pie, which I will post soon, I promise!). I was on board with that, especially since we bought a new waffle maker earlier this summer, but haven’t gotten a chance to try it. With the weather being cooler, it was an obvious choice to choose something with pumpkin (where did September go?). We had a lot of fun trying out the new waffle maker and played around with the settings. I prefer my waffles to be on the crispy side on the outside, and soft on the inside. These waffles are divine, with fall flavors that I love (pumpkin, cinnamon, a hint of ginger and other spices…). This will be our new fall-themed breakfast favorite (until we find another recipe ), so I think this will fit our September’s What’s Baking Theme of “Family Favorite!”. Check out the rest of the posts over at Dani from Cloud 8½.
Slightly adapted from Waring Pro Cookbook
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ounce finely chopped walnuts or pecans, best if toasted first
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (canned solid pack pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling)
3 egg whites
3 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup real maple syrup
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, chopped nuts, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Stir to blend and reserve.
In a second bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, egg yolks, milk, maple syrup, melted butter, and vanilla extract; stir until smooth. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to blend until smooth, using a whisk.
In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
Preheat your waffle maker per the manufacturer’s recommended setting (modify the setting to your desired browning) and measurement cup.
Bake in the hot waffle maker. Remove waffles and repeat with remaining batter. Waffles may be kept warm in an oven at 200 degree F on a cookie sheet.
Serve waffles with warmed maple syrup, whipped cream, powdered sugar… ‘the works’.
Yield: Approximately (6) 5-inch round waffles
