Blueberry "syrup"

This morning, two things converged to become a lovely meal.  Number one: now that the kids are in school and I'm often at home by myself, I sometimes have a hankering for a delicious brunch-for-one.  Number two: I like blueberries, and since they've been on sale lately I keep buying them up to snack on.  After recently reading this paragraph from an article about blueberries, I'm especially sold on the awesomeness of them: Overweight rats fed the human equivalent of 1 cup of blueberries a day stored less belly fat than those that didn’t eat them, reports a University of Michigan study. The researchers believe compounds in anthocyanin, the pigment that gives blueberries their tint, may turn on genes related to fat burning.

Interesting, huh?  So -- I decided today to make Dutch Baby, and to incorporate blueberries in the form of a syrup.  YUM!

Here's how I made the syrup:

Rinse one container (one cup) of blueberries, put into a small saucepan.  Add about 3T sugar, about 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and stir til it's basically combined.  No need to add water!

Turn the burner on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until it starts to get bubbly.  As the blueberries cook, they'll break down and release their juices, and the syrup will soon start to look a little more syrup-y instead of a pan full of dry berries.

Simmer, uncovered, on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add 1/2 tsp vanilla. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

 The final result was about 2/3 c of a chunky sauce, more like a berry compote.  I went ahead and used all of it on my Dutch Baby, but half would've been enough.  I just figured, I was planning on eating that whole container of blueberries today anyway, so might as well!  It was yummy.

 Maybe it's weird that I'm posting a picture of the plate after I ate, but it's to show the very pretty color of the syrup against the white plate.  Cooked blueberries make the best color ever.

Enjoy!  (I know I did!)

Easy Orange Rolls

I wanted a touch of sweetness with dinner the other night, and I had Rhodes rolls on hand so I looked online to find an orange rolls recipe using frozen Rhodes rolls. They were delicious! The recipe calls for 12 but I made 15, and I just increased the other ingredients by a little bit.

Jenna's Orange Rolls

12 Rhodes Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold

1 medium orange rind, grated

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c butter, melted

Citrus Glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 T butter, melted

3 T orange juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix grated orange rind with sugar. Roll each roll into a 9" rope. Tie in a loose knot. Roll each knot in melted butter and then in rind/sugar mixture. Place on a large sprayed baking sheet. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let double in size. Remove wrap. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack. Brush with citrus glaze while still warm.

Here's a little rolls tip for us warm-weather folks: last week I needed to make 48 rolls for another family and I didn't have time to make them from scratch so I went with Rhodes. But then I realized I was still short on time for them to thaw & rise. Molly, my 9-yr-old, had a great idea, "Mom, why don't you put them outside where it's really warm?" Perfect! I put them on greased (sprayed w/ Pam) sheet pans, and covered them tight with plastic wrap that I'd also sprayed. I set them out in the sun, on a nice flat spot where the dog couldn't reach them, and in just over an hour of being in 100+ degree heat they had thawed and risen and were ready to bake!

recipe credit

Stuffed French Toast

Today towards the end of church, I must confess my thoughts were turned towards lunchtime. I thought about this recipe idea of breakfast-for-lunch and couldn't wait to get home to try it! The recipe for the French toast batter is modified from one I found on allrecipes.com. The addition of flour in the recipe makes a nice texture and works for all kinds of bread.

1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 T white sugar (if you're planning to use syrup, decrease sugar to 1 T)
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
20-24 slices of white sandwich bread (this is enough for a big family)
filling ideas: jam, bananas, peanut butter
canola oil


In a shallow baking dish, such a as an 8x8 casserole, mix flour with salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Gradually add milk while whisking quickly, so the flour dissolves and there are no lumps. Whisk in vanilla and eggs. The mixture will probably need to be whisked again just before using.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil on a large griddle, on medium-high heat.

Prepare stuffed french toast: each stuffed "sandwich" contains two pieces of bread and whatever filling you want. Just lay one piece of bread on the counter, spoon/spread/etc. a small amount of filling in the center of the bread, leaving at least an inch of plain bread all the way around. Cover with the second piece of bread, and then smush the edges of the bread together, hard, to make a good seal. This is why plain old white sandwich bread is the best for this, because it will smush together easily. Don't put too much filling in, and also remember that it will spread out. Keeping in mind what my kids like, I used the following combinations: strawberry jam (about 2 T), peanut butter & jelly (spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter and top with a spoonful of jam), banana (about 6-7 thin slices of banana), peanut butter and banana, and strawberry jam with banana. My kids' favorites ended up being peanut butter & banana, and plain jam.

Once you have prepared several of the stuffed sandwiches, dip each one into the egg/milk mixture, flipping to coat both sides but not allowing to soak more than a couple of seconds. Immediately place on your hot, oiled griddle; repeat with remaining sandwiches. We topped ours with powdered sugar; since my batter was sweet and the fillings were sweeter, we definitely did not need any syrup with these. They were delicious and I will make them again!

Pumpkin Bread

I used a recipe I hadn't tried before; it was so moist and delicious! I made a few little changes to the recipe I found on allrecipes.com, and here's what I came up with.

1 c butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3 c flour

1 tsp salt

1 T baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground cloves

1 can pumpkin (15 or 16 oz)

semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare two regular loaf pans by spraying with non-stick spray. Cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and eggs; beat for a few minutes until creamy and well-combined. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Add dry mixture to mixer. Mix on low speed just until combined, then add pumpkin (and chocolate chips if you want them) and continue mixing on low just until combined. Divide batter into two loaf pans (Pam Baking works perfectly for this!) and bake for one hour at 350.

Orange Strawberry Scones

Easy and delicious! And, fancy-looking too. These would also be cute cut into different shapes, like hearts for Valentine's Day.

2 c flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 T orange zest
1/2 tsp salt
6 T butter, cut into 1/2" pieces
3/4 c heavy cream or half and half
1/3 c strawberry jam

Glaze:
1/4 orange juice
2 c powdered sugar


Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (You can also do this with a food processor.) Stir in cream until just barely combined.

Flour a smooth work surface and roll out the dough to 1/2" thick. Cut out scones with a biscuit cutter or cookie cutter and put on a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Using the back of a small measuring spoon, make a shallow indentation in the center of each scone; then fill with jam.

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine orange juice and powdered sugar for the glaze. Drizzle over each scone and let set for about 30 minutes before serving.

Caramel Baked French Toast

I didn't take a picture. I made it, we ate it, we loved it. I got the idea from allrecipes.com but as I am prone to do, I changed the ingredients and quantities so that it's just the way I wanted it. And it was SO good.


1 c brown sugar
1/4 c light corn syrup
1/4 c butter
1 loaf french bread
4 eggs
1/2 c cream
1 1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Grease a 9x 13 pan. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, and butter. Melt and stir together and cook over medium heat until bubbly. Once it's bubbling, take it right off the heat and pour it into your greased 9x13 (I just sprayed mine with Pam, which worked fine).

Slice french bread into thick enough slices that it will cover the bottom of the pan in one thick layer; maybe 1 1/2"-2" slices. Arrange slices in 9x13, on top of the caramel sauce.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs until well beaten. Add cream, milk, vanilla, and salt; mix well. Pour mixture evenly over bread. Mix white sugar & cinnamon together in a small bowl; sprinkle evenly over the top of the whole thing.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, or, if you're having this for dinner, just do it a few hours in advance; a few hours is all you need for the bread to soak up all the liquid.

Cover 9x13 with foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes; then remove foil and continue baking for 15 more minutes to get a bit of a crisp to it.

There's no need for syrup with this; when I served it I flipped each piece upside-down onto our plates so that the nice shiny sticky caramel was on top.

Dutch Baby

(I usually drown mine in syrup)

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe sooner; it's one of my favorites! I make this all the time, and it's the easiest recipe ever to adapt for any number of people.

All you have to remember is the ratio of ingredients: eggs, milk, flour, a little salt, butter.

Here's the ratio:

1 egg -- 1/4 c milk -- 1/4 c flour -- 1 dash salt -- 1 T butter.

2 eggs -- 1/2 c milk -- 1/2 c flour -- 2 dashes salt -- 2 T butter.

3 eggs -- 3/4 c milk -- 3/4 c flour -- 3 dashes salt -- 3 T butter.

Get it? Easy peasy! SO... for a large group, you could do:

8 eggs -- 2 c milk -- 2 c flour -- 8 dashes salt -- 1 stick butter (which is 8 T)

And now for the instructions. Turn on oven to 425. Put butter in whatever baking/casserole dish size is appropriate for the crowd you're serving. A 6-8 egg recipe could go in a 9x13; a 2 egg recipe in a 1 or 1 1/2 quart Pyrex. Anyway, if the butter is cold, cut it into small pieces so it will melt faster. Put baking dish into oven while it's heating.

Meanwhile, put eggs and salt in a blender and turn on high. After 10 seconds or so, add milk and then flour (gradually) and continue to blend for a few minutes.

Once the butter has melted, take the dish out of the oven and swirl it around to make sure your melted butter covers the bottom and sides as much as possible. Pour batter from the blender right into the hot dish on top of the butter. Don't stir it. Return it to the 425 oven for about 25 minutes. It will be golden and puffed up and cracked and delicious!

I usually just top mine with syrup; homemade jam is good on it too. But probably the best Dutch Baby topping I've ever had is this apple topping. Oh me oh my, that is yummy.

By the way, I have no idea why this is called "Dutch Baby." I just know I love it!

Apple Topping

5 medium Gala apples, peeled and sliced
6 T butter
1/2 packed brown sugar
cinnamon

In a saute pan, heat butter until melted. Add apples and saute until apples become tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add brown sugar and toss to coat. Sprinkle in desired amount of cinnamon and stir. Cook until sugar dissolves to make a caramel-like syrup. Serve over waffles, pancakes, ice cream, or whatever else you like! The last time I made this for my family, there was a little leftover which I stirred into a bowl of oatmeal the next day... delicious!


Recipe and photo courtesy of realmomkitchen.com

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancakes

In an effort to incorporate more whole grains and less meat into my family's diet, we have had healthy versions of pancakes a few times lately for dinner. These were so tasty, filling, and we all loved them! I got the recipe from allrecipes.com but made a few changes to it.

1 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c oats (the recipe called for quick oats; I used regular rolled oats which was fine)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c light or fat-free sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c milk

Mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix applesauce, sour cream, egg, vanilla, and milk. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until blended. Cook on a hot griddle.


Tips:

The batter is fairly thick; the amounts above worked for me but depending on the thickness of your sour cream, and applesauce, you may need an additional splash of milk.

I used homemade applesauce that I made last fall, which is much sweeter than store-bought unsweetened applesauce. So, the batter may not be sweet enough if you use store-bought unsweetened; I would add a couple teaspoons of sugar if that's the case, or just used sweetened applesauce.

I doubled this recipe for my family (two adults, four young children) which was the perfect amount. They are more filling than regular pancakes; most pancake recipes I triple.

We ate them with syrup but next time I'll serve them with jam so as to be a little more healthy. They were SO good!

Buttermilk Pancakes

I haven't bought Bisquick (or any other pancake mix) in years; it isn't hard to make pancakes from scratch! This recipe came from my mother-in-law, Ruth.


1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T sugar
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
2 T melted butter

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add egg, buttermilk, and melted butter. Mix with a wire whisk until combined; don't over-mix. Cook on a hot griddle; flip over when tiny bubbles begin to pop on the top.


Tips:

You can get away with not using real buttermilk if you don't have it... just put about half a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice into a 1-cup measure, then fill up with milk, and there you have it... "fake" buttermilk. These pancakes taste fine either way but of course the real thing is always a little bit better!

I like to let the batter sit for a few minutes before I start cooking the pancakes. I can't explain why; I just feel like it needs to rest for a minute first and they turn out better. So, what I usually do is mix up the batter first and then let it sit while the griddle is heating up.


Variations:

Occaionally I use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour when I make these, in an effort to be more healthy. The consistency can be a little different, depending on the freshness of your flour; I usually have to add a little more buttermilk to mine when I use the whole wheat flour. Tonight for dinner I made some with blueberries... not all of my family were eager to try the blueberry variety so after mixing up a triple batch with 1/2 white & 1/2 wheat flour, I put about a third of the batter into a smaller bowl and added about a cup of fresh blueberries. Wow were they tasty!

Cinnamon Rolls

I got the basic idea for the recipe here (thanks Emily! and Adrianne!) but changed it a little after having made a couple of batches of them. The dough is very tender and melt-in-your-mouth! I used to think that the dough component of cinnamon rolls didn't make much difference, and that it was mostly the filling & frosting that mattered. BUT, this dough is excellent for cinnamon rolls... give it a try!

Dough + filling (see below for frosting ingredients)

2 1/2 c warm water
2 T yeast
4 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1 c semi-melted butter
7 1/2 c flour
2 tsp salt

1/2 c melted butter
3 T cinnamon
2/3 c brown sugar


Dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl (I use my Kitchenaid) put eggs, sugar, and 1 cup butter. Mix and then add yeast/water mixture. Add salt, then add flour gradually. Once ingredients are incorporated, mix on low speed (knead) with the dough hook for about 5 minutes. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

Working with half the dough at a time, roll out on a generously floured surface into a large rectangle. This dough is really sticky, so have plenty of flour on hand to sprinkle! Pour half the melted butter (1/4 c) onto the rectangle. I spread it all around with my hands. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle 1/2 the mixture evenly over the buttered dough. (I think that some finely chopped pecans mixed with the brown sugar & cinnamon would taste good too; I'll try that next time!) Working back & forth across the long side, roll up the rectangle (I do it towards me) and make sure to keep it tight. When it's all rolled up, squeeze the roll along to make it an even thickness throughout.

I get 16 cinnamon rolls out of half the dough; you can make more or less depending on how big you want them. 16 is easy to divide... four sections of four... so using a very sharp knife, cut the long roll into 16 equal pieces. Put them on a greased baking sheet or one lined with a Silpat like I use, with the prettiest side up. I give them each a little smash with the palm of my hand to make sure they bake evenly. Repeat entire process with the other half of the dough, so you'll end up with 32 cinnamon rolls.

Allow to rest/rise, covered, for 25 minutes. Then bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes; just until the edges barely show a little color. While they're baking, prepare your frosting:

4 oz (half a brick) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c butter, softened
3 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar... I'm not sure how much so just have plenty on hand

Cream the butter & cream cheese together with a hand mixer; add milk & vanilla, then add as much powdered sugar as necessary for the consistency you want. I like mine a little runny, like a thick glaze. You'll probably need at least 4 cups of powdered sugar; if the frosting becomes too thick just add a tiny bit more milk.

Frost the cinnamon rolls when they've been out of the oven about 5 minutes.

I made a batch of these for a group of people that came over to my house this morning; I had planned to take a picture of the cinnamon rolls but everyone ate them up too quickly! No leftovers for my breakfast tomorrow; sad.

Blueberry Muffins

From the New Good Housekeeping Cookbook

1 3/4 c flour
2/3 c sugar
1 T baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 T butter (3/4 stick)
1 egg
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs (if the pieces are bigger, like the size of peas, that's okay too). In a small bowl mix egg, milk, lemon peel, and vanilla with a fork until blended. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold blueberries into batter.

Spoon batter into greased muffin tin. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan; serve warm.


Tips:

• If you use frozen blueberries, don't thaw them before adding to batter. Fresh turn out a little better because they don't bleed as much into the batter and the muffins turn out looking "cleaner." But they are tasty either way!

• For these muffins or for any quick bread or cake, I never use a toothpick. I check for doneness by lightly pressing down on the center of the muffin/bread/cake with one finger. If it springs back, it's done. If a depression remains, it's not cooked through.

• My muffin tins are dark metal and these muffins are always done in 20 minutes; check after 18 or so to see if yours are done.

• And I can't believe I forgot to mention; I always sprinkle a little regular white sugar on top of each muffin before putting them in the oven -- it gives them a nice crunchy sweet top! A friend of mine puts brown sugar on top of hers; I haven't tried that but I bet that would be tasty too.

Breakfast Casserole

I have made this breakfast casserole several times for big groups and it's always a big hit!

Put two layers of sliced white bread (cheap sandwich bread) in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with 2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Over the cheese, lay about 9 slices of cooked bacon (you can microwave it - and I break it into bite-sized pieces so it's easier for serving).

Beat together: 8 eggs, 1 1/2 c milk, 3/4 tsp ground mustard, and a dash of onion salt. Pour mixture over other ingredients. Refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup with 1/4 c milk; spread over the top of the casserole.

Bake for 1 hr 15 min at 300. Delicious!

Recipe courtesy of Ruth