pumpkin french toast w/ salted maple butter

So I wasn't going to post this, BUT when everyone saw it on my Instagram feed, I got a couple requests for it.
Sorry for the lack of photos, but I hadn't planned on using one of my breakfasts as a post.
I need to share more of what I make in everyday life; I have a bad habit of that.
I forget that you all like kicked up foods too, no matter how weird they might be...right?
Plus I'm with you when it comes to super easy meal making because I am lazy don't have a lot of time, and want to eat right now good tasting food fast.
Best part? Super easy to make.
Plus it's really tasty and kind of good for you too--right?
I mean there's real pumpkin in there too.
Oh!  Speaking of canned pumpkin, I spent a little bit more money and got a couple cans of
pumpkin puree from Whole Foods.
When I opened the can I was shocked at how bright and gorgeous the orange color of the pumpkin was.  I don't know if the pumpkin they use is better or what?
But it looked better and tasted better.
Yes, big difference in taste.
I know I'm the biggest fan of Whole Foods, but I'm telling you that canned pumpkin
(Whole Foods 365 brand) was tasty! Not watered down or bland tasting like some other brands.
So, if you're so inclined, try a can; and let me know if you notice a difference in taste.

With this french toast, you can easily make the egg custard the night before, provided you cover it nice and air tight.



The 'salted' maple butter just gives it an extra kick.
It's not overly salty, just pairs really nice with the pure maple syrup.
Any leftover maple butter is so good with pumpkin pancakes, bagels, toast, grilled cheese...endless possibilities!

pumpkin french toast with salted maple butter
print recipe

salted maple butter
1 stick (8 TB) of unsalted butter, room temp
1 TB pure maple syrup
1 ts of sea salt (this is optional, but wonderful)

Mix all ingredients until well blended. I used a hand held mixer. Then place in ceramic dish, cover
with plastic wrap, and place in fridge to harden a bit.
Or for fancy results place butter into plastic wrap and roll into a log, cover tight, place in fridge until it hardens. When ready to use just slice and use.
I used a small ice cream scoop to scoop out the butter--kind of fancy.

pumpkin french toast
4 eggs
1/2 cup plain pumpkin puree
3 to 5 dashes of pumpkin spice seasonings
2 to 3 dashes of cinnamon, optional
1/2 cup whole milk +2 TB heavy cream
about 9 to 11 slices of bread (oatmeal or sourdough works best)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, mix really well until you have a nice smooth custard.
If using next morning, store in airtight non-reactive bowl (use glass or ceramic) with cover.
When ready to use, let custard come to room temp a bit.
Dip both sides of each bread in custard and fry in a hot buttered frying pan.
Cook booth sides until desired doneness, serve with the salted maple
butter, and maple syrup.
The butter tastes so good you might not need the maple syrup.
Makes enough for 9 to 11 slices.

sweet potato hash (made with frozen fries)

I get a lot of emails asking for more one bowl easy recipes and one "frying" pan easy recipes.
I'm more than happy to share a one-fry pan easy recipe using frozen sweet potato fries.
Can one make a great hash using frozen sweet potatoes?
YES!

Actually, you'll be hard pressed to notice the difference in the hash between normal sweet potato vs. frozen sweet potato fries.
How did I get that nice char, crisp crust on the hash?
Easy, just defrost the sweet potatoes a bit before using.
Simply place the frozen fries on paper towels, let them defrost a bit (about 20 minutes, shorter if your kitchen runs hot). Don't skip this step, it helps take out some of the moisture in the fries which will help them crisp up better during frying.
Look for almost defrosted, with soft outside, but still frozen middle.
Then chop up into 1-inch pieces, try and keep them a uniform size.
Add olive oil to a frying pan, saute onions till a little brown, then place in the chopped sweet potato fries. Place them in as one layer, pushing down a bit, and let them cook till brown and crisp, then turn over.  At the very end I like to add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a couple pats of butter, stir, mix, until ready.
If you want spicy then a few dashes of tabasco sauce too.
Remove hash from pan and use the same pan for frying the eggs--don't clean it!
Since there is still a lot of flavor in the pan leftover from the hash.




quick & easy sweet potato hash (made with frozen fries)
print recipe

1 bag of sweet potato fries (12 - 15 ounce bag)
1 small/medium onion, chopped
2-3 TB of unsalted butter
a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper to taste

cook notes:
Use peppers instead of onions or sundried tomatoes.
Feel free to add a bit of garlic as well.
Adding in cooked sausage is a nice addition as well.

Simply place the frozen fries on paper towels, let them defrost a bit (about 20 minutes, shorter if your kitchen runs hot). Don't skip this step, it helps take out some of the moisture in the fries which will help them crisp up better during frying.
Look for almost defrosted, with soft outside, but still frozen middle.
Next chop up into 1-inch pieces, try and keep them a uniform size.
Add olive oil to a frying pan, and over medium heat, saute onions till a little brown, then place in the chopped sweet potato fries. Place them in as one layer, pushing down a bit, and let them cook till brown and crisp, then turn over and fry the other side.
Don't keep flipping the hash browns, let them be and get nice and brown.
At the very end I like to add in a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and a couple pats of butter, stir, mix, until ready.
If you want spicy then a few dashes of tabasco sauce.
This should make enough for 2-3 servings.

peanut butter-oatmeal morning bars

Quite honestly I didn't know what to call these besides tasty lil fockers!
A little history: these bars come from those gluten free peanut butter cookies I made with that wonderful peanut butter powder.
I had some of that powder (see photo below) left over and wanted to do something different.
Having a craving for healthy morning bars--you know the ones that you can take with on busy mornings, but won't weight you down with heavy carbs later on?
So...these bars are kind of healthy, there is some sugar in there, and butter, but there is no flour.
Most days I don't like to have flour; I'll have grains, but not white flour--it just makes me so sleepy.
I wish I could call these gluten free, but there are oats in there, and how the oats get processed, I'm sure there is some sort of cross contamination.
If you want these gluten free, just take out the oats and take out the butter. I added in the butter just for the addition of the oats.
One bowl baking too! Gotta love that.
Do me a favor?
Invest in a jar of this peanut butter powder.
It's so good when used in baked goods; adds that little something special in the background.
Not to mention how much tastier it makes peanut butter cookies!

Where to find? Most health food stores and Whole Foods Market.

Did I tell you how tasty these are?
They aren't dry or boring. You know how some oatmeal cookies or bars are boring? Yeah, not these.
Just darn tasty!
Addictive too.
Perfect with morning coffee!
I am NEVER making oatmeal cookies without this recipe--this is so good.  OK, I know I said that a lot.

See those edge pieces?
Yeah, save those for yourself--you're welcome!

peanut butter-oatmeal morning bars

print recipe

1 ¼ cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (not too oily)

¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed

1 cup + 2 TB old fashioned oats

½ - ¾ cup of raisins (add or takeaway how much you like)

1 stick of butter (8 ounces), room temp

1 large egg, room temp

1 egg yolk

1 ts baking soda

3  OVERSIZED TB powdered peanut butter

1 ts sea salt

cook notes:

This recipe is almost gluten free since there is no flour. 

But there are oats in there, so….

In a small bowl add the peanut powder, baking soda, oats, and salt and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl beat egg and egg yolk, and beat.

In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter, butter, and sugar until well combined, add in the eggs, mix well..

Add in the dry mixture, and mix. Then add in the raisins.

Cover bowl and let it sit in fridge for about an hour.

It needs to set up a bit/harden before baking.

Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes dry!

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease up an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Place batter in baking pan, making sure to get it evenly spread all around and in the corners.

Bake for 16-21 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges. It cooks up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 20-21 minute mark.

The middle might still be a bit soft, this is ok, it will harden up a bit.

You know they are done when there is no jiggle in the middle.

Cool for a while as this baked dough is still fairly delicate and hard to move. I waited 1 hour, then put them in fridge to set up faster.

I keep them stored in the fridge, at least a couple days, covered well.

cookie butter french toast

Sunday mornings, I love making breakfast.
Even if I'm dead tired.
I have the kitchen all to myself, it's quiet, and now that spring is supposed to be here on cape cod, the birds are starting to sing just outside my kitchen window.
I know this sounds like a set up for a great movie scene, but truth in fact, it's one the best times I great creative.  Well, that is, if I have enough espresso THEN the creative juices get flowing.
On sunday mornings I have hubby home in which to experiment my lastest breakfast creation.
Most creations he loves, some creations I can't tell him what it is for fear if he knows then he won't eat it.  Yes, he is a fussy eater--picky moreso.
I know, an all-around foodie like myself married a non-foodie.
Ask him what is cookie butter and he'll reply "it's cookies with butter in it".  Gah!
So when I set out to make a kicked up breakfast recipe, I rarely tell him what it is until he's halfway through the meal.  Like this dish I'll tell him it's "just" french toast!
He'll hear the words "french toast" and be cool.
Then a few bites later, he'll say "what did you do to it--it tastes different?"  Gah!!
I would love to know if any of you do this with your spouses or kids?
The inspiration for this came about at 2am on a sunday morning, I woke up starved and already thinking about sunday breakfast.  OK, and my obsession with cookie butter plays a huge part too!
My brain says "what haven't we done breakfast-wise with cookie butter?"  And here is where french toast came into play.
How would it work?
Simple make sure the bread is frozen, so we can spread the cookie butter on fairly easily.
Make sure you work fast dipping cookie butter coated bread into egg wash.
And make sure the butter coated frying pan is nice and hot!
It all worked perfectly.

(on the side of the french toast is my tomato-kielbasa hash which, if anyone is interested I can post the recipe?)

The frozen bread helps the cookie butter adhere better. Make sure to apply a thin layer of cookie butter.

(the person who owned our house before us, LOVED pink--it's everywhere in the house!)


Next time I make these I think I will use whipped cream.  The maple syrup was sweet, and really not needed as the cookie butter french toast was quite tasty on it's own.

cookie butter french toast

print recipe

6-8 Slices of white or whole wheat bread, kept frozen

3 eggs

½ cup or so of milk

½ - ¾ cup of cookie butter

butter for frying French toast

maple syrup or whipped cream for garnish

chopped walnuts or pecans for garnish, optional

Get frying pan ready, you want it nice and hot. Cast iron (no grill) works best to give the cookie butter a nice sear and will help keep it adhere to the bread.

Make the egg wash by mixing the eggs with the milk; stir well.

Take your frozen bread and spread a nice thin layer of cookie butter on both sides.

Place the prepared bread on a plate, by the stove, next to your egg wash pan.

Place butter in heated frying pan, dip prepared bread in egg wash and place in heated frying pan.  Do not crowd the pan as we want to keep the pan nice and hot so it gets a nice sear and not that much cookie butter sticks to the pan.

Fry in batches and keep done French toast in a warm 200 degree oven.

Make sure to place more butter in pan as you fry each new batch of French toast.

Serve with chopped nuts and maple syrup.

granola thins

Those granola thins by Nature Valley are an excellent idea: thin crispy granola; granola you won't break your teeth eating, all dipped in chocolate or peanut butter.
I've had this on my "recipe clone" create list to make for some time.
Granted these don't look exactly like the granola thins, I'm sure they have precise machines to cut them into little perfect squares.
But with mine you can rest assure there are far less chemicals and far better tasting chocolate.
If you make these, keep in mind the thinner you spread the oat mixture out on the baking sheet the thinner the bars will be.  I made mine somewhere in the middle: not too thin, not too thick.
And thinner means more crunch, thicker means chewier.
I need to work on making a batch with peanut coating.

I must warn you that these are highly addictive.
And you simply must try them with the little bit of heat.
It's a gentle heat...I promise.

Toast the oats! Important step for sure.


Secret ingredient: those coconut chips from Trader Joe's, my goodness those are good.
If you can't find those, then use toasted coconut flakes--just make sure they are toasted a bit to ensure a nice crunch.

Remember spread thin for crispy bars, thicker for chewy.

Do the chocolate coating thin too.  I made mine too thick, but I guess that's a good thing too.


granola thins (with a touch of heat)

print recipe

4 cups rolled oats (not quick oats, not quick cooking, not instant)

1/8 cup canola oil

4 TB butter, melted

½ ts sea salt

¼ ts (or more) of cayenne

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup + 2 TB honey

¼ cup pineapple juice (an oversized ¼ cup)

¼ cups molasses

1 ½ ts pure vanilla extract

1 cup of crushed graham crackers, fairly fine crush

1 cup rice krispies

3/4 cup sweet & spicy pecans from Trader Joe’s, rough chop (you want chunks)

1 cup of Trader Joe’s Coconut Chips, crushed

cook notes: for thin and crunchy-like granola thins spread the oat mixture thin on baking sheet.  If you want chewy granola bars, then spread it thick-like.

If you can’t find Trader Joe’s coconut chips use some toasted coconut flakes. Light golden brown toasted coconut. And you can use any spicy pecans you want really. 

for chocolate coating:

11-12 ounce bag of milk chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oats with the canola oil, melted butter and salt.

Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet, in a nice thin layer.  Bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until oats turn light golden brown.

You should turn and mix oats around during the baking.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

To make the mixture for the bars:

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, mix the brown sugar, honey, pineapple juice, vanilla extract and molasses. Heat the mixture slowly, stirring until all combined. Don’t let it come to a boil—just want to dissolve everything.

Take the toasted oats, place them in a large bowl, add in the crushed grahams, rice krispies, pecans and the coconut chips.  Mix all.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Toss the toasted oat mixture with the sugar mixture, stirring as you pour.

Toss to combine.

Take a baking sheet (large), grease up with nonstick spray even the edges, and place down parchment paper.  If you don’t have parchment paper then use non stick spray on foil. 

Press mixture onto baking sheet . 

For thin crispy granola try and spread the granola as thin as possible on the sheet.  It’s hard, but just keep at it.

For chewy granola, keep the mixture thicker.

Bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

It will take about 2- 3 hours for this to harden up.

Once it’s harden, then pour on the melted chocolate, in a nice thin layer.  I did not go all the way to the edges.

Let the chocolate harden and set up. 

Being careful cut pieces with a very sharp knife and remove from the pan.

Makes about 30  2-inch bars +/-

double chocolate muffins stuffed with cookie butter

Cookie butter.
Who knew this would be so popular?
Don't you kind of wish you invented it?
Me too.
Although had I invented it, I never would have thought to use those kinds of cookies; what are they again?  The cinnamon cookies that make the cookie butter?
I think I would have used nutter butter cookies or the vanilla Oreo's.

Did you know that stuffing muffins with cookie butter is really genius?
It is, and you need to try these asap.


Yes those are my giant white, fuzzy slippers. With my bad knees I'm supposed to wear more supportive
cooking clogs in the kitchen.
Why can't they make fuzzy, slipper-like, supportive, comfy chef clogs?
Can someone get on this one?


These are so easy to make. So so easy.

double chocolate muffins stuffed with cookie butter

Muffin base adapted from King Arthur  

print recipe

1 3/4 cups flour

2/3 cup dutch-process cocoa

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 ts baking powder

1 ts espresso powder (or half a pack of single Starbuck Via)

1 ts baking soda

3/4 ts salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk or half & half

2 ts pure vanilla extract

2 ts apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

½ cup semisweet choco chips

½ - ¾ cup of cookie butter (+/-)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large muffin pan with paper or silicone muffin cups, and grease the cups.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large measuring cup or medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients, along with the melted butter, to the dry ingredients, stirring to blend; then add in the chocolate chips.  No need to beat these muffins, just make sure everything is well combined. Lumps are good!

Scoop half the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Next using 2 spoons or a very small cookie scoop, place a medium-large dollup of cookie butter on top of the batter and in the middle. Fill the cups with remaining batter, making sure to get the sides with batter.  Do not push down!

Baking times:

Because of the vinegar added in the mix, baking times will vary greatly.

I suggest baking for 9 minutes, rotating pans, then baking for another 6-7 mins.

My muffins were done at the 15 minute mark.  So keep this in mind when you’re baking.

You can always see if they’re done with a cake tester inserted in the SIDE of the muffin comes out clean.

And the tops of the muffins will be firm.

Should make about 12 regular muffins. You can make jumbo size muffin tins, just watch the baking times. 

bacon jam stuffed corncakes

Bacon Jam.
Aren't those two of the best words--ever?
I've had bacon jam on my "baking bucket list" for a long time.
I finally got around to making it. Was inspired from one of my favorite foodie blogs Homesick Texan.
She made a spicy version and I made a spicy & sweet version.
But I learned the basic (and good) bacon jam base from her.



You should know the other fabulous find of this post.....

I wanted to make corncakes from scratch, but alas I had no cornmeal in the house.
But I did have a box of cornbread mix from Trader Joe's.
I do hate to waste food, so why not see if it will pancake?



Guess what? It did! And it was quite good to.
Now before you all start hating on me for using a box mix, it was all I had AND
these actually fried up a lot lighter and crisper than a normal corn cake would.
Plus I had to see if "it would pancake"? Just like the term "will it waffle"?
The only downside? A bit tricky to flip.
But one can remedy that with making the corn cakes small; pouring a little batter at a time.

I bet you have a couple boxes of cornbread mix just sitting in your cupboard right now.
Ask yourself--will it pancake? I bet it will.


Go ahead and mix up the batter like you normally would.
Fry them in some melted butter.
Stuff with bacon jam!







Making the bacon jam is quite easy. I've included the recipe in this post as well.
If y ou do make it, and decide to freeze some, let me know if it freezes well.
I know a lot of you will ask me that question, and to be honest the jam did not last long enough to "save for later".
It got used up fairly fast in a bunch of other recipes, which I will post.





sweet & spicy bacon jam
print recipe

1 & ½ pounds of bacon (uncooked)
half of a medium red onion, finely diced
2-3 TB fresh chopped garlic
2-3 chipotles en adobo (with the sauce too), minced (this gives a mild heat; if you want more heat add more minced chipotles en adobo)
2 TB ketchup
¼ cup + 1 TB light brown sugar
½ ts allspice
½ TB double dutch cocoa powder
1 cup of brewed espresso
¼ cup Coke
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
a couple dashes of black pepper

Slice up the bacon into 1-inch pieces. Cook in batches until cooked, all fat is rendered. Do not cook bacon till crisp. Drain cooked bacon on paper towels, remove all bacon fat from pan except for a couple tablespoons. Then over
medium heat, cook the onion and garlic until they are just cooked thru and lightly brown.
Add back in the cooked bacon, all spices, all the liquids and all the rest of the ingredients. Turn heat to low, and let simmer for a couple hours until mixture has reduced and almost all liquid is gone. You should get a nice thick-like chili consistency. Place in bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let set up in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Then place bacon jam into a food processor, and puree for a few pulses. Don’t puree too much, we want to have chunks.

Makes about 1 & ½ cups of jam.
Keeps well in the fridge (tightly covered) for about 5-6 days.
Not sure how it freezes.

__________________________________________________________________________

bacon jam stuffed corncakes
print recipe

If you're willing to use a cornbread mix to make the pancakes then go ahead.
The pancakes are a lot more delicate to flip over, so make them small.
As shown in the photo above, all you need to do to stuff them is put a couple of dollops of bacon jam
on the cornbread batter, let it brown on one side, then gently flip over.
I got about 12-15 small pancakes using the Trader Joe's cornbread mix.
Follow the instructions on the box as you would normally.
Fry up the pancakes in butter.
Serve with chopped veggies like tomatoes, cukes, onions, etc...
And serve with sour cream.
Remember these are savory pancakes, so maple syrup might not taste so great.
If you don't want to use a corn bread mix then use your favorite corn cake recipe.
I do highly recommend serving some hot sauce with these too.

crumb cake muffins with creamy espresso filling

Muffin tops. If I'm out in public and I hear those words I automatically check my boobs to see if I have indeed produced muffin tops.
Bad. Can't help it. Those kind of muffin tops are embarrassing. Check yourself--I know you do too.
The muffin kind of muffin tops are not embarrassing, but actually really good.
So good in fact, that one (myself included) seeks out a muffin with a really good, hearty, thick muffin top.
Am I right?
A truly good muffin is really 80% all about the muffin top.




Isn't that a good muffin top? Those crispy sides are buttery, sugar heaven. And perfect with hot morning coffee. :::swoon:::



Very easy to make. Just get all your fixings lined up and ready to go.






The crumb part? Do not be stingy--this is what helps produce a nice muffin top complete with crisp edges. These will rise a tiny bit, and spread out onto pan making your once circle muffin a nice big crispy muffin top square. This is good.


Heavenly I tell you!



coffee cake muffins with creamy espresso filling
some inspiration from macheesmo.com
print recipe

batter:
2 cups all-purpose flour
just under ½ cup sugar
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
6 TB unsalted butter, melted
1 ts vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk

espresso filling: (might have leftover filling)
6-8 ounces of cream cheese, room temp
½ cup confectioners sugar
1-2 ts of espresso powder (use as much or as little as you like)

streusel topping:
6 TB unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
2/3 cup sugar
6 TB all-purpose flour
½ ts salt
1 ts cinnamon

For the streusel:
Combine all ingredients, but the butter in a bowl,. Mix then add in the melted butter, stir well, set aside.

For the espresso swirl:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.

For the batter:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients. Add the two together and mix till just combined.
Line regular muffin tin with muffin liners. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, fill muffins halfway with batter. Then place a dollup (2-inch ball like amount) in middle of batter. Then fill remaining muffin up with batter—it’s ok to go “almost” to the top. We need to save a bit of room for the crumb topping.
Next pack on the streusel. Gently push it down if you want, but not too hard.
It’s ok if the muffins are overflowing a bit—mine were and this makes excellent muffin tops!

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Rotate pan halfway thru baking. Mine were done at the 20 minute mark. You can tell they are done by the non-jiggly middle. If you use a cake tester in middle you will hit the cream cheese filling and not get an accurate read. You need to let these cool a while before eating as the cream cheese needs to finish setting up and the muffin tops need to harden a bit. After all it’s all about the muffin tops. Should make about 10-12 regular muffins. Mine made 11 muffins.