Pancakes

These pancakes are easy and really yummy. I think I'll make them for breakfast tomorrow. I love to eat my pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on top. If you've never tried it, you should.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

French Toast Kabobs

I haven't tried these, but I thought Martha had a fun idea.


Serves 4
Ingredients
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup nonfat buttermilk
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 loaf (one-pound) unsliced dense white bread (such as pullman), crusts removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
2 bananas, sliced
Maple syrup (optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven to warm. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, salt, and vanilla. Stir in bread.

In a large saute pan set over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Place half of the bread mixture in pan; cook, turning occasionally with a spatula, until browned on all sides. To keep warm, transfer to the oven. Cook remaining bread in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter as before.

Thread bread cubes onto skewers alternating with blueberries, raspberries, and banana slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, if desired.

Pancake Cups

I take absolutely zero credit for this idea, my friend in Boston got it from a friend of hers. It looks like something you would see on this blog, so I copied it. I know you Supermommies will try it and I want to see some pictures. I think it would be great for a baby shower brunch.This idea sprang from a recipe she found in the book Kitchen Playdates by Lauren Deen. In her version thinly sliced wheat bread forms the cups instead of pancakes. She didn't have any thinly sliced bread on hand nor did she want to run to the store so she gave pancakes a try. It was great!

Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Make your favorite pancake batter but add a few extra tablespoons of water. Add 1 tablespoon at a time to make sure the batter doesn't get too thin. You want the batter thinner than usual but not watery.

Step 2: Use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to add the batter to the pan or griddle. Cook pancakes.

Step 3: Lightly grease your muffin cups with butter. Don't forget the sides

Step 4: Gently press pancakes into the muffin cups. Remember to press around the bottom edges of the muffin cups.

Step 5: Bake in a 325 degree oven for 5-8 minutes.

Step 6: Let pancakes cool in the muffin tin.

Step 7: When ready to serve, remove your pancake cup, place on a plate and reheat in the microwave (if desired.) Fill with yummies and eat!





Filling ideas:

Strawberries and whip cream (as shown)

Scrambled eggs, bacon and syrup drizzled on the plate (as shown)

Peanut butter and bananas

Blueberries

Ricotta cheese and berries

Lemon curd, raspberries and a dollop of whip cream

Banoffee Waffle

I think this would make a nice Father's Day breakfast treat if anyone wants to try it. We lived in Cambridge, UK two years ago and it was one of my favorite treats. We would eat them at the Coton Orchard near our kids' school. You can leave out the Heath bits and mini chips or sprinkle them on top of the finished product. I took the easy way by using Bisquik for the waffles, but when you have little kids you kind of have to take all the short cuts that come your way. These are pretty fantastically fatty and rich so I can only eat about 1 and a half before I start to feel sick. But they taste so yummy . . . it is totally worth it. I think this can be a breakfast or a dessert.

Here is my version of:

Banoffee Waffles

waffle batter made using recipe on Bisquik box, add 1T sugar and 1T lemon juice to batter

bananas, sliced

whipped cream whipped with 1 T sugar and a drop of vanilla

Heath bits

mini chocolate chips

Smucker's Caramel ice cream topping

Hershey's syrup

chocolate bar 

Pour about 1/3 c batter in hot waffle iron, sprinkle sparingly with Heath bits and mini chocolate chips. Cook waffle for about 5 minutes or however long it takes for a crispy exterior and soft interior. Top immediately with whipped cream followed by bananas. Drizzle with caramel sauce and chocolate syrup. Shave a little chocolate over the top with a microplane grater. You're welcome;)

Granola

Tara first introduced me to this recipe and I love it! It's fun to make different varieties. I usually make the original recipe, minus the sesame seeds and raisins. Or I make the toffee granola (So so good), minus sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, raisins, and dried fruit. The toffee granola is more of a snack/dessert. It makes a great treat to give to a neighbor. This is the regular granola. I had some today and it was yummy.


Combine in a large bowl:
6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds

Then coat with:
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
Spread on two rimmed cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Add 1/2 cup raisins and 1 cup chopped dried fruit. Bake 5-10 more minutes, until golden brown.

Variations:
Double coconut and pecans
Mango, pineapple, papaya, and macadamia nut
Cranberry and almond (can add white chocolate chips also when cool)

Toffee Granola
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
5 T water
In a large pot cook over high, stirring constantly 6-7 minutes. (Have your granola ready to dump in.) When the mixture is the color of a paper bag remove the pot from the heat. Quickly dump in your granola and stir to coat. Spread on wax paper to cool. You can also use this toffee recipe for popcorn.

Blender Wheat Pancakes Addendum

So I made the blender wheat pancakes for the kids and they had trouble eating just one. It could have been that they just weren't hungry or the fake syrup (Collin likes fake, I like real), but it took 1 hour to eat one. Then I had a flash of early American inspiration and decided to turn them into stacked pancakes from Laura Ingalls Wilder's book Farmer Boy,

"Ten pancakes cooked on the smoking griddle, and as fast as they were done Mother added another cake to each stack and buttered it lavishly and covered it with maple sugar. Butter and sugar melted together and dripped all down their crisp edges. That was stacked pancakes. Almanzo liked them better than any other kind of pancakes."

Instead of cooking the pancakes in butter on a hot skillet, I just left the skillet dry. Instead of 10 pancakes stacked up, I did three. If you have extra pancakes left over, make stacked pancakes the next day in the microwave by layering pancake, butter, brown sugar three times and zapping in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds. Ian, Aidan and I love them. Collin hates butter or else he would love them too. 

Yummy Scones

I've been craving scones for some reason, so I tried this recipe. They were really good. I substituted mini chocolate chips for the raisins. This is a really basic recipe so you could experiment with different mix-ins. Next time I think I'll put a little lemon zest in with the dry ingredients and add blueberries instead of raisins.


INGREDIENTS
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom

German Apple Pancakes

This is a great way to use food storage dried apples. This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Kid magazine. It is also in the cookbooks Ian's preschool sold last year so April, Katy, Kirsten and Stephanie all have it. These work best using a silicone muffin tin, they come out picture perfect. You can also make one huge pancake in a casserole dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.  We like the muffin cup ones better because you have more crispy outside surface area. We eat ours with whipped cream, but the recipe also suggests maple syrup, strawberry jam, lemon juice and more powdered sugar.

German Apple Pancakes

2/3 c flour

2 c dried apples reconstituted with hot water or 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled & cut into pieces

3 eggs

1/4 c brown sugar

5 T granulated sugar, plus more for tin

1/2 t cinnamon

2 T unsalted butter

1 T lemon juice

3/4 c whole milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush melted butter inside each muffin cup; coat with granulated sugar. Toss apples with brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Melt 2 T butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add apples and sauté, turning occasionally, for 10-12 minutes, until caramelized. Remove from stove; let cool 5 min. Divide apples among muffin cups.  Place flour, salt, granulated sugar, melted butter, eggs and milk in blender, blend on high 3 minutes. Pour batter over apples. Place in oven and lower heat to 400 degrees. Bake 15 minutes. Pancakes should puff up during last 5 minutes. Remove from oven  and turn it over on flat surface to remove pancakes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately. 

April's Breakfast Casserole

Our mom has been making this for years and now it is one of my family's favorites. On Christmas morning I made this casserole and some Monkey Bread (Kirsten, maybe you could post that recipe...Yummy!) and everyone loved it. If anyone is making Easter brunch, this would be great!

Breakfast Casserole

1 stick butter
10 eggs
1 lb. Cheese (Jack or Cheddar)
1 pt. Cottage cheese
1 small can diced green chilies
2 c. diced ham
1 t. baking powder
1/4 c. flour
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients with beaters. Pour into 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

You can also mix everything up and put it in the dish the night before and bake it in the morning.