Monkey Muffins

I like to make a "special" breakfast on the days of "special" events and holidays. Birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, New Years Day, Easter...you get the idea. This is something new that I've added to my list of possibilities. It is basically monkey bread in muffin form. I really like having "individual" monkey bread's to pass out because then I'm not as tempted to eat the entire pan in one sitting. And thus ruin every second of The 30 Day Shred that I've ever completed.

This recipe is a combination of two that I found - the dough portion is The Frugal Girl's recipe and the remainder of the recipe is from Pioneer Woman Cooks. You don't have to make the dough from scratch - you can buy a loaf of frozen bread or a can of refrigerated biscuits and either will work just fine for this recipe!  

Ingredients

*for dough*
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast (equals one packet)
1/4 c warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 1/4 c warm milk (110-115 degrees)
1/3 c butter, melted
1/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 t salt
4 1/2 - 5 c all purpose flour

*for "glaze"*

Butter

Sugar

Ground Cinnamon

Directions

In a stand mixer, let yeast dissolve in 1/4 cup of water. Add in milk, sugar, salt, eggs, butter and 3 cups of flour. Beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed for 3 minutes. Add in enough remaining flour to create a soft dough. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes. Place dough back in bowl, cover with a wet tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft free place. Let rise for one hour, or until doubled.

Punch dough down, roll into 40 balls and set aside.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into walnut sized balls (or cut refrigerated biscuit dough into thirds). Place three into each muffin tin. Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on more sugar and cinnamon. Allow dough to rise for 30 minutes and then bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients...

...Thinly sliced ham, chopped

...1/4 onion, chopped

...1/4 green pepper, chopped

...1/4 c. salsa

...1/4 - 1/2 c. shredded cheese

...4 eggs

...Tortilla Shells

Directions...

In a skillet over medium heat, saute ham, onion and green pepper until tender. Add eggs and stir continuously until a scrambled egg form takes place. Be sure to cook until eggs are fully done. Stir in salsa and shredded cheese and cook until everything is heated through and the cheese has melted. Serve in warm tortillas shells.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

These muffins are probably, hands down, the most tasty muffin that I have made in my life. Ever. If you love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then this is the muffin for you!! I found this recipe in Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook and just the thought of a peanut butter and jelly muffin made me salivate! I made a few changes to her recipe (it should just be expected now that I will find something to change in a recipe!) and I have to say that not a one of them was regretted!

This muffin is best served once cool. For two reasons. Reason number one - the peanut butter and jelly flavors stand out much better once cooled. Reason number two - you will burn your mouth terribly bad from the hot jelly if you eat these muffins straight from the oven! Talking from experience here! You would think that burning my mouth pretty badly the first time around would have changed my mind from wanting to try another straight away, but no. I immedietely grabbed a second muffin and proceeded to burn my mouth again on the hot jelly! I gave up until the muffins were cooled and ate two more once they had cooled a bit. So that's 4 of these muffins within 3 hours of them being out of the oven, all to myself.

Don't judge me. At least they are healthy muffins with veggies!!

Ingredients...

...1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

...1/2 c. carrot puree (Steam or boil some carrots until soft, then put in food processor with water until it is smooth)

...1/2 c. brown sugar

...2 T. butter

...1/2 c. vanilla yogurt

...1 egg white

...1 c. flour

...1 tsp. baking powder

...1 tsp. baking soda

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1/2 c. jam/preserves/jelly (I used my homemade strawberry rhubarb jam...sooooo good!!)

Directions...

In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter, carrot puree, sugar and butter until well combined. Stir in the yogurt and egg white. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until just combined, but do not overmix (lumps are okay!). Spoon the batter into 12 greased or lined muffin cups and then create a "well" in the top of each muffin. Drop a spoonful of the jam (or preserves/jelly) into each "well". Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Macadamia Sweet Rolls

As I've mentioned in the past, on special holidays we like to enjoy an extra special breakfast as a family. This is something that my family did as I was growing up (except that our "special breakfast" back then usually consisted of either Pillsbury cinnamon rolls or store bought cinnamon rolls...) and it's a tradition that I've continued on now that I'm married.

Some of our old standby's for special breakfasts include Cinnamon Rolls and Monkey Bread. I decided that it's high time I try my hand at a Sticky Bun. I usually shy away from sticky bun recipes because they call for pecans, which I never have on hand...and I find to expensive to buy when the bag usually is only big enough for one recipe. So when I stumbled upon this recipe over at Allrecipes, I finally decided enough was enough and why couldn't I substitute something for the pecans? I opted to go with macadamia nuts, as I had some on hand with the intentions of making cookies.

These rolls are soooo sinfully delicious that I couldn't stop at just one! I felt kind of guilty eating two...but then decided that a special occaison could mean calories don't count for the day, right? These rolls actually get better with age. Hubs and I both had one straight from the oven, piping hot and all. They were good, but I had one a little while later, once they had cooled a bit and the "sticky" portion of the rolls had a chance to set up and they were ten times better than piping hot from the oven!

This recipe is also super great because you can do all the prep work the night before, toss them in the refrigerator, and then just bake up the morning of! Just toss them in while your kids are hunting for their Easter baskets! And the smell that will waft through your house as these bake up is absolutely amazing! So amazing that your kids will probably (I said probably!) forget about their full of chocolate Easter baskets for long enough to get some real food in their tummies before they fill up on sugar and chocolate (well. just chocolate. these rolls are plenty high in their own sugar count!).

Ingredients and Directions...

...1 c. warm milk (heat in microwave for about 1 minute)
...1 egg
...2 T. butter
...2 T. sugar
...1/2 tsp. salt
...3 1/3 c. flour
...1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Place ingredients in stand mixer and mix until dough pulls away from the sides and is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered, in a warm draft free place for one hour. (this step can also be done in your bread machine).

...1/3 c. butter
...1/2 c. brown sugar
...2 T. milk
...1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts (but you can substitute any nut really...)

Place butter in a saucepan over low heat until melted. Add milk and brown sugar. Stir until well combined. Add in nuts. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and set aside.

...1/4 c. butter, melted
...1/2 c. brown sugar
...2 tsp. ground cinnamon
...1/4 c. chopped macadamia nuts (or other nut you have chosen)
...1/2 c. raisins

Once dough has finished rising, roll out onto a lightly floured surface into a rectangle. Spread with 1/4 c. melted butter. Sprinkle on cinnamon and brown sugar, followed by nuts and raisins. Roll up like a jellyroll on the long side. With a greased butchers knife, slice roll into 1" pieces. Place the slices in the prepared pan, on top of the sauce prepared earlier. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. If you choose to refrigerate overnight and bake in the morning, let rise and then place in refrigerator, covered. Baking time may need to be lengthened a few minutes. Once baked, turn upside down onto a platter immediately upon removal from oven. Let cool to allow the sauce to set up for a few minutes before serving.

Banana Bread Waffles

I love banana bread and I love waffles. So it made perfect sense to me to find this recipe over at Annie's Eats where the two were married into breakfast bliss. Hubs told me he thought that these tasted like potpourri...how he knows what potpourri tastes like is beyond me! But he could not be more wrong! I think he was just intimidated and thrown off by so many spices in a waffle. The only waffle he's ever known is the plain jane waffle with no spices.

This waffle is soooo delicious! It was such a nice change of pace from the regular waffle, it had a distinct banana bread flavor to it that just warmed me from the inside out! Topped with some maple syrup and banana slices....mmmmmm! Heaven! What a great change in pace to start off the day!

Ingredients...

...4 T. butter, melted

...1 c. plus 2 T. warm milk

...1 tsp. vanilla

...2 c. flour

...1 T. brown sugar

...1 1/2 tsp. yeast

...1/2 tsp. cinnamon

...1/4 tsp. nutmeg

...1/8 tsp. ground clove

...1/8 tsp. ginger

...2 eggs, lightly beaten

...3 ripe bananas, mashed (you know. those ones that are really brown and hanging out in your freezer!)

...2 T. sour cream

Directions...

In a small bowl, wisk together the butter, milk and vanilla. Set the bowl aside, and in a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, yeast and spices. Once the dry ingredients are well combined, stir in the wet ingredients until everything is moistened. Wisk in the egg until it is well incorporated. Cover with the bowl and refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours and up to 24 hours. When you are ready to cook the waffles, remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will cause the batter to double in size and have little bubbles on the surface. Stir in the mashed bananas and sour cream, wisking lightly. Cook in a preheated waffle iron until cooked through, about 4 minutes.

To see more delicious recipes for baked goods be sure to check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap going on over at Life as Mom!

Banana Nut Muffins

Remember a few weeks ago when I was craving what I thought to be an apple muffin? Well, I learned with that recipe that maybe it wasn't an apple muffin I was craving at all. So I kept at making muffins until I discovered that what I was actually craving was a moist, chewy banana nut muffin. Yep. Not exactly apple muffins.

Darn you, pregnancy cravings. Why can't you be more clear?

You know those monster muffins that they sell at Perkins? The ones that you just know are so calorie laden that you shouldn't even look at them for fear of what will happen to your hips. But you still order one anyways and then proceed to enjoy every last crumb. Yeah...that's what I wanted. Minus all the calories.

Is it really possible to get the best of both worlds? Why yes. Yes it is.

I found this recipe in my trusty ol' hometown church cookbook and this recipe alone just goes to prove that little ol' church ladies really do know what they're talking about when it comes to making a tasty dish!

Ingredients...

...1 c. flour
...1/2 c. sugar
...2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. salt
...3/4 c. quick oatmeal
...1/3 c. nuts (I used cashews and crushed them up)
...1 egg
...3 T. oil
...1/2 c. milk
...1/4 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 c. mashed bananas

Directions...

Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nuts and oatmeal. In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs and then stir in the milk and oil. Add to the dry ingredients and then stir in the bananas. Stir only until the dry ingredeints are moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

To see more great recipes, be sure to check out Friday's at the Table over at And Baby Makes Five, Foodie Friday's over at Designs by Gollum and Food on Friday's over at Anne Kroeker!

Hidden Ingredient French Toast

I don't know about you, but I often find getting the proper servings of fruits and vegetables (mostly vegetables) into my husband to be a challenge. He's just not that into his veggies. So I really feel for you with kids...because then you are nagging more than just one person at the dinner table to "eat your vegetables! pleeeaassseee!!". But at least you guys only have to nag at kids...I have to nag at a grown man!

In comes Jessica Seinfeld with her book Deceptively Delicious. I had heard wonderful things about this book, mostly when it was first realeased. I saw a segment she did on Oprah when the book was first released showing Jessica feeding kids all kinds of their favorite foods like brownies and macaroni and cheese that had the hidden vegetables like squash or cauliflower in them. And the kids were gobbling them up! Could it be true? 5 and 6 year olds eating broccoli....and liking it?!?!? I was enthralled!!

At the time I didn't give it much more thought than that. But when I stumbled upon her cookbook at the local library, I figured it couldn't hurt to try! Especially with my own munchkin on the way, I figured it's never to early to start practicing on how to sneak those vegetables that will inevitably be tagged as "yucky" into our diets. I started simple. With french toast. Who's hidden ingredient is bananas. And you know what?!? I couldn't even taste a hint of banana in my french toast. Nor did hubs...he just thought it was my everyday french toast recipe!

So now onto bigger and better things...like hiding that broccoli and those brussell sprouts!!

Ingredients...

...French bread, sliced into thick pieces
...4 eggs
...2 T. banana, pineapple, sweet potato, carrot or butternut squash puree. Or 2 T. canned pumpkin. (I, of course, used the banana puree)
...1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions...

In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, puree and cinnamon. Dip the bread slices into the puree, one at a time making sure to coat both sides. Let each side soak in the mixture for no longer than 30 seconds each. Cook the soaked bread slices in a greased skillet over medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes per side. Serve warm with the toppings of your choice!

To see more great recipes, check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Beauty and Bedlam!

Breakfast Pizza

I love breakfast pizza! It's an illness, really...but I just can't help it...it's love! In college, I worked at a convenience store as an assistant manager, and one of my duties was kitchen duty during the breakfast and lunch times. One of our claims to fame was our pizza...and our breakfast pizza just couldn't be beat! I would sneak a thin slice here and "accidentally" mess up a small section there, just so I could eat some (and if my former boss is reading this right now, there's my confession for ya!).

So I finally decided that it was high time to try and recreate this breakfast pizza on my own. I was very happy with how it turned out, this recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients...

...Pizza Dough to make crust
...scrambled eggs (I used about 4 eggs and some skim milk to whip some up)
...cheese sauce
...ground sausage
...mozzerella cheese
...cheddar cheese

Directions...

Form pizza crust with dough to desired size. Spread cheese sauce over the dough, following with a sprinkling of ground sausage and the scrambled eggs. Top with mozzerella cheese until toppings are covered. Sprinkle a small amount of cheddar cheese on top of the mozzerella cheese. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Note: You can also use crumbled bacon in place of or with the ground sausage.

For more great recipes be sure to check out Mouthwatering Monday, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday!

Apple Muffins

I have been craving a moist, spicy, nutty apple muffin for weeks now. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and make one. I've made lots of muffins before, but never an apple cinnamon muffin. So I searched high and low over at Allrecipes and finally decided that this particular recipe was the chosen one.

I'm not going to lie.

This was nothing like I was hoping for. While it was good...there just wasn't enough "spice" to it. And I forgot to add in nuts. And there was too much apple.

However, for what it's worth, despite that this muffin didn't meet my craving, it was pretty good. Kind of a dense muffin, not so much a light and fluffy muffin.

Ingredients...

...2 c. flour

...1 T. baking powder

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1 tsp. ground cinnamon

...3/4 c. milk

...2 eggs

...1/4 c. applesauce

...1/4 c. honey

...1 c. chopped apples

Directions...

In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs. In a larger bowl, stir together dry ingredients until well combined. In another seperate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Gently fold in beaten eggs. Add wet mixture to flour mixture until everything is just moistened. Fill greased muffin cups until 3/4 full and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Monkey Bread

Merry Christmas Eve! I'm sure today finds you hurridly finishing last minute details for tomorrow! I thought it most appropriate that today I share a recipe for a breakfast delight that you can make tomorrow morning for after church or while you open gifts with your littles. Growing up, we always had a tradition of having cinnamon rolls on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter mornings. I've decided to keep with this tradition now that I am starting my own family, and this year I am making this delicious monkey bread for our Christmas morning breakfast! It's so gooey and delicious warm from the oven...mmmmm...I'm salivating just thinking about it!

Ingredients...

...1 cup white sugar
...2 tsp. cinnamon
...1 pound bread dough (or 3 cans of refrigerator biscuits)
...1/2 cup. butter
...1 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions...

In a small bowl, stir together white sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Divide bread dough into small balls (if you are using refrigerator biscuits, divide each biscuit into four pieces) and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place coated balls into a well greased bundt pan. In a small saucepan, melt butter and then stir in the brown sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to let boil for 1 minute. Pour the mixture over the dough in the pan and then bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Once removed from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes before turning the pan over on a plate and dumping the bread out.

Baked Pancake Squares

Is your family nuts about breakfast food like mine is? I'm always in search of new breakfast food recipes to try so that we don't get sick and tired of the same old same old. When I found this one, I was practically giddy! I love making pancakes, except for the whole cooking them part. I always seem to burn them. Baking them in the oven just seemed like the perfect solution.

And oh, trust me, it sooo is!

Ingredients...

...3/4 cup milk (not pictured)
...2 T. applesauce (you can sub butter or plain yogurt here as well)
...1 egg
...1 T. white sugar
...1 cup flour
...2 tsp. baking powder
...1/4 tsp. salt

Directions...

In a large bowl stir together egg, milk, applesauce and sugar until well combined. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add in baking powder and salt and stir until everything is well combined. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

To see more tasty recipes, check out Mouthwatering Monday over at a Southern Fairytale!

Orange Raisin Muffins

I was searching for a new and different muffin recipe the other day when I came upon this. Orange flavored muffins...sounds, well, interesting. I almost passed it over and kept looking, but my interest was caught. I knew I must try this muffin recipe. When I bit into this muffin, it was like I was eating a fresh orange...except in bread form. Seriously! I'm amazed at how true the fresh orange flavor stayed in this muffin! Usually in baking, flavors get lost, but the orange taste shows right through in this recipe! Luuuurrrrvvveee it! When I was mixing up the ingredients, I was in love with how much like an Orange Julius it smelled. Which got me to thinking that I need to research a muffin option to taste just like a Julius. And if there are no recipes out there, then I will make one.

Mark.

My.

Word.

Ingredients...

...1 large orange
...1/2 cup orange juice
...1/2 cup applesauce (you can also substitute butter or plain yogurt if you have no applesauce)
...1 egg
...1 1/2 cups flour
...3/4 cup sugar
...1 tsp. baking powder
...1 tsp. baking soda
...1 tsp. salt
...1/2 cup raisins

Directions...

Peel orange and place peel in blender or food processor. Split orange into sections and also place in blender or processor. Add orange juice as well, and then blend or process until smooth. Add egg and applesauce, continuing to blend until all ingredients are smooth and there are no lumps. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Stir in orange mixture until all ingredients are wet. Fold in raisins. Portion into muffin tins and bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

To see more recipes featuring oranges, check out the In Season Recipe Swap over at Tammy's Recipes!

Low Fat Banana Muffins

Remember those delicious Healthy Pumpkin Pie muffins that I made a few weeks back, and how excited I was about having a super healthy muffin recipe? Well here's another! I love banana bread, and have perfected that recipe of mine down to an art, so here's a banana muffin recipe that is a sure keeper! PLUS, it's (virtually) fat free!

Ingredients...

...2 eggs
...4 bananas
...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. salt
...1/2 c. sugar
...1 tsp. baking soda
...1/4 c. milk (not pictured)
...1 tsp. cinnamon (not pictured)
...1 tsp. vanilla extract (not pictured)

Directions...

In a small bowl, mash and stir together bananas, eggs, milk and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients until well combined. Spoon batter into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

French Toast Casserole

We love breakfast food in this house! We have breakfast for supper night at least once per week. I decided that this week instead of the usual waffles or pancakes and eggs/bacon I would switch things up a bit and we would give french toast casserole a shot at glory. I'm super glad I did, this is amazing! Plus, it left my kitchen smelling like french toast for days!

Ingredients...

...5 cups bread cubes (I used my french bread recipe for the bread. you can use whatever you want!)
...4 eggs
...1/4 cup white sugar, divided
...1 1/2 cups milk
...1/4 tsp. salt
...1 tsp. vanilla extract
...1 T. margarine, softened
...1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions...

Grease an oven safe casserole dish and place bread cubes in dish. In a small bowl, wisk together eggs, milk, 2 T. sugar, salt and vanilla. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Stir until bread cubes are all well coated. Dot with butter and let sit for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine remaining sugar and cinnamon together. At the end of the 10 minutes, pour the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the bread cube mixture and stir to coat well. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Berry Oatmeal Muffins

I bought a bag of fresh berries at Aldi two weeks ago or so, with the intent to make delicious berry muffins with them. When I found this recipe, I knew it was a winner because it called for wheat germ...which is the first recipe in a while that I've came across calling for that. And beings that I bought a pretty big bag of wheat germ at the local Bulk Foods Amish store this past spring, I've been anxious to use it. This is a healthy to boot recipe which is great for those watching what they eat and their health. Overall, this was a pretty good recipe. I was disappointed with the lack of rising that the individual muffins did, but otherwise it's a great alternative to cold cereal for breakfast!

Ingredients...

...3/4 cup cooking oats
...1/4 cup wheat germ
...1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
...1/2 cup white sugar
...1 tbs. baking powder
...3/4 cup milk
...1/2 cup plain yogurt (you can substitute butter, oil or applesauce)
...1 egg
...1 cup fresh berries (I used fresh frozen)

Topping...

...1/4 cup cooking oats
...1/4 cup brown sugar
...1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions...

In a large bowl, combine the oats, wheat germ, flour, sugar and baking powder. Stir in milk, yogurt and egg until dry ingredients are moist and all is well combined. Fold in fresh berries. Scoop into prepared muffin cups. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients until well mixed and sprinkle on top of muffin batter. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.

Baked Oatmeal

My mother in law makes this all the time, and hubs loves it! So I decided to give it a go...it was a lot easier than I thought!

Ingredients...

...1 cup plain yogurt (can substitute butter, oil or applesauce as well)
...1 1/2 cups sugar (can lower to your tastes)
...4 eggs
...6 cups oats
...4 tsp. baking powder
...1 tsp. salt
...1 tsp. cinnamon
...2 cups milk

Directions...

Combine ingredients in order listed. Place into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 375* for 35 minutes.

My Thoughts...

Just as yummy as I remember! I ate it warm from the oven, so I didn't add any toppings but when I reheat it tomorrow I'm eager to try it with some strawberries! I also think that this would be good in milk with some sugar!

Apple Strudel Muffins

I had some apples leftover that I found on clearance for 20c/lb last week. I already have several pints of applesauce in my freezer, so I decided to switch it up and make some baked goods with the apples...

Ingredients...

...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 cup butter
...1 cup white sugar
...2 eggs
...1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
...2 cups chopped apples

...1/3 cup brown sugar
...1 tbsp. butter
...1 tbsp. flour
...1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Directions...

Preheat oven to 375*. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and eggs. Add in vanilla and apples. Slowly stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fill muffin cups with mixture. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter until it comes coarsely together. Put topping on muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes or until golden.

My Thoughts...

This was a really great muffin! I loved the streusel topping, and the moist apple flavor offered by this muffin! What a great change from cold cereal at breakfast!

Cinnamon Rolls

A few nights ago, my dear little sister and our cousin who is visiting town (she lives 12 hours away, and we don't get to visit often...) decided that they wanted to have a slumber party at my house. I obliged to the two giggling teens, and even made them homemade cinnamon rolls for the next morning. I know, my best big sister award will be in the mail, thanks :)

Ingredients...

Roll...
...3/4 c. water
...2 T. oil
...2 eggs
...1 1/2 t. salt
...2 T. granulated sugar
...3 c. flour
...2 1/4 t. active dry yeast

Brown Sugar/Cinnamon filling...
...1/3 c. brown sugar
...2 t. cinnamon
...2 T. melted butter

Icing...
...3 oz. cream cheese
...1/4 c. butter, softened
...1 1/2 c. confectioners sugar
...1/2 t. vanilla extract

Directions...

Place ingredients into bread machine in order listed. Turn on to dough setting and let the machine run its cycle. When cycle is complete, place the dough on a lightly floured surface to rest for 5 minutes. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough until it is a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar mixture ingredients. Spread mixture onto dough. Roll up length wise and pinch edges together. Slice into 1 inch thick rounds. Place in a lightly greased 9x13" pan. Cover with a clean cloth or towel, and palce in a warm spot to rise, about an hour. Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. When cooled, drizzle with icing.

My Thoughts...

I love cinnamon rolls! And growing up as a kid, we only had them on Christmas and Easter mornings. Which made eating them all the more special. But now that I know that making them is so easy, and of course delicious! When we have kids, I want them to remember warm, gooey cinnamon rolls on chilly fall and winter mornings. Even on a hot summer day as a tasty snack! I just loooovvveee cinnamon rolls!

Waffles

We've been attempting to eat less breakfast cereal each morning, so I've been trying to homemake a lot of things to have on hand. This week I decided to make up a batch of waffles to freeze and just pop in the toaster on hurried mornings.

The ingredients...

...1 3/4 c. flour
...2 T. sugar
...1 T. baking powder
...2 eggs
...1 3/4 c. milk
...1/2 c. oil
...1 t. vanilla

Directions...

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, mix together wet ingredients, add to the dry ingredients and stir until just moist. Cook on preheated waffle iron until golden and test done (it took my iron about 3 minutes).

My Thoughts...

Yum! We love waffles here! Topped with the homemade syrup, it was delicious! These freeze great and warm up great in the toaster as well! A great homemade breakfast for a busy morning!

Bagels from Scratch!

I love bagels. I do not, however, love the pricetag on bagels. The solution? Homemade!

The Ingredients...

...1 c. water
...1 1/2 t. salt
...2 T. white sugar
...3 c. flour
...2 1/4 t. yeast

Directions...

Place ingredients in bread maker in order listed. Set to dough setting and let run cycle. When cycle is finished, let dough rest 5 min. on lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 9 sections, and roll into balls. Poke hole in middle of each ball and form into bagel shape. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Three at a time, boil the bagels for one minute, turning after 30 seconds. Let drain on clean dish towel. Place onto baking sheet lightly dusted with cornmeal. Bake at 375* for 20 minutes.

My Thoughts...

So good! And the best part? These only cost 32c for the whole batch as opposed to $1.19 and up for a pack of 5 at the grocery store! I will definetely start making these myself, especially since it's a really easy process! Next time I think I will try adding some garlic or onion and make a flavored bagel!