breakfast

Blueberry Muffins

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It’s a snow day here in Chicago. 9 inches so far and its continuing to come down. So after a fun time with the sled and freezing our fingers and toes off, I decided (of course) to bake! Blueberries have been super tasty lately so I bought a bunch to make muffins. Yum! I’m glad I didn’t have this recipe on my blog yet. This recipe is very easy and has a streusel topping which really gives them a bakery style flavor.

So, if you are stuck inside like we are today and you have blueberries, make these beautiful muffins! The perfect weekend snack or breakfast 🙂

What you will need:

12 cupcake tin lined with cupcake liners

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries. I used fresh

For the streusel:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in egg, milk and oil. Stir until you still see some clumps. Gently fold in blueberries.

Scoop batter into each cupcake liner and set aside to make the topping.

To make the streusel, whisk together the flour and sugar. With your hands, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Evenly top the muffins with the streusel.

Above is a picture of the muffins just before going into the oven.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before removing from pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

Yum! Seriously they are so pretty 🙂 Store covered at room temp and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes

The fluffiest, tastiest and most perfect fall pancake! Seriously, these are heavenly. Not only is there pumpkin in the batter, but also molasses! It really takes them to another level. SO GOOD! These do take a little longer to make than the traditional pancake, but it is so worth it. Wake your family up with a sweet treat! Happy October 🙂

What you will need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup pumpkin 
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl,  whisk together the flour, both sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. In other bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, pumpkin, molasses and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined. The batter will be thick!

Heat your pan on medium heat and grease with butter or non-stick spray. Using a big spoon, pour batter onto pan. Tip: Since the batter is so thick, using the back of the spoon, I then spread the batter out evenly into a circle.

Flip the pancake over when the edges are dry and bubbles are just starting to pop on the top, about 2-3 minutes. The next side will not take as long, maybe about another 45 seconds to a minute. Serve hot with maple syrup. Enjoy!

I got 10 medium sized pancakes.

Buttermilk Pancakes

It has taken me quite some time to master the pancake. The batter has to be mixed just so, and the griddle pan has to be at the perfect temperature. But, I think I did it! I found the best recipe and will share it and my tips with you 🙂 So let’s go make our families happy and cook them a nice breakfast!

What you will need: 

Pan or griddle

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-2 tablespoons granulated sugar (depending on desired sweetness)
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Note: This recipe was perfect for my little family of 3 but can easily be doubled if needed.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Then, slowly add in melted butter, whisking constantly not to cook the egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not over mix! There will be some lumps.

Next, heat your pan on medium heat. Grease with butter or a non-stick spray. Once it is heated, ladle the batter on. As much or as little as you want, depending on the size of pancakes you want. When the pancake is ready to be flipped, it will look like this:

Dry edges and bubbles in the center, about 1-2 minutes cook time. When you flip it, it should look like this:

Not perfect but it will do 🙂 The second side only takes about 30 seconds to be done. Serve hot with butter and syrup! Enjoy!

Banana Bread

As I was looking through old posts, I realized I didn’t have a recipe for just a simple banana bread. I’ve made muffins and coffee cakes and bundt cakes with bananas. But not banana bread. So here you go! A simple, and kind of healthy, banana bread.

What you will need:

8 x 4 inch loaf pan, greased

3 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl, mash bananas with baking soda. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together both flours, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk the banana mixture into the wet ingredients. Then add in the dry ingredients and stir until everything is just incorporated. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before inverting and cooling completely. Enjoy!

French Toast

I love making breakfast for my family! I had a loaf of bread to use up and eggs, so naturally, this morning I made French Toast! So easy, so delicious, the perfect breakfast for my husband to wake up to after a night out with his buddies 😉 So here ya go… Time to make your family happy…

What you will need:

2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6 slices of bread
Butter for pan

Note: This recipe can easily be doubled if you are serving a larger crowd.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Pour into a shallow plate, I use a 9 inch pie plate. Over medium heat, melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium frying pan. Dip one slice of bread in the egg mixture. Place bread in frying pan until golden brown on both sides. Continue with all slices of bread.

Serve with maple syrup, fruit, or how I like it, covered in sugar! Enjoy!

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Banana Bread Muffins with Chocolate Buttercream

Who says you can’t put frosting on muffins? If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you know I just got piping bags and decorating tips from Wilton! I couldn’t wait to use them. I wanted to make a cake but since I would be the only one eating it, I decided to make muffins instead. And these are more like banana cake muffins, anyway. Plus, chocolate buttercream is super tasty and easy and I figured, hey, that would go good together 🙂 If you do not want to make the buttercream, you don’t need to. The muffins are very delicious on their own.  So let’s bake…

What you will need:

Muffin tin lined or sprayed
Tip: If spraying with a non-stick spray, do so just before pouring the batter in. This will prevent it from pooling at the bottom.

For the banana bread:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1/2 cup milk

For the chocolate buttercream:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
Piping bag (optional)
Decorating tip (optional) I used a Wilton 1M

To make the banana bread muffins:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

In another large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs and mix until well incorporated.

Peel the bananas and place them in a bowl. Mash well with a fork. Add them to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add half of the milk and another 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix. Then add the rest of the milk and flour and mix until combined.

Scoop batter evenly into prepared pan about half full. Bake for 14-16 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing them and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream:

Look at me piping! Bad picture but so exciting 🙂

In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), beat butter until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in the cocoa powder and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla and the powdered sugar slowly. Beat in milk as needed (depending on how thick you want it) and mix until you get the desired consistency.

Frost the muffins once they are cooled. You can pipe, like I did, or just use a knife or spatula. Enjoy!

Made 17 muffins and more than enough buttercream.

Homemade Waffles Recipe

 

Everyone should own a waffle iron. If you do not have one, make a goal for yourself to get one by next weekend. The waffle iron I have was a gift from my mom, I’m not sure what brand it is, but it works great and makes amazing waffles. And the best part is, it’s heart shaped! Super cute and perfect for me.  Since I have become a stay-at-home mom, I make breakfast for my family almost every weekend and waffles are a simple, quick and delicious meal. Plus, you can add cinnamon, chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas and so much more depending on tastes. Here we go…

What you need: 

Waffle iron

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(This recipe makes about 10 waffles and can easily be halved)

Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.

To make the batter:

In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar and set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Ladle the batter (about a 1/3 cup depending on iron size) into the preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup (as pictured, I served with chopped walnuts and sliced banana). Enjoy!

 

 

 

Coffee Cake Recipe

 

One of my favorite things in life is breakfast. I love everything there is about breakfast foods and I absolutely adore going out for brunch. So, for this post I thought I would share my go to coffee cake recipe. This coffee cake has a crumb topping made with cinnamon, chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. I also put this “topping” in the center of the cake, between 2 layers of batter, for extra yumminess. Let’s get started…

What you will need:

9 in. springform pan

For the crumb topping:

1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

For the coffee cake:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. Butter (or spray with a non stick vegetable spray) a 9 in. springform pan.  Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper.

To make the crumb topping:

In a small bowl, stir together the chopped walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, chocolate chips and flour.  Set aside.

To make the coffee cake: 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl (or bowl of your electric mixer), beat the butter until softened. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream (or yogurt) alternately. So, put some flour, mix, sour cream, mix, flour, mix… you get the idea (I hope). The batter will be thick.

Spoon half the batter in the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle about half of the crumb topping evenly on top of the batter. Cover with remaining batter and spread that evenly with spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb topping evenly on top. Bake for about 40-50 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes you can release the sides of the pan and serve. Enjoy with a cup of coffee!