Category Archives: G’mornin’ Sleepy Head!

Breakfast, brunch

PZ Pancakes

My Girlie was quite happy to sample this experiment. And she loved these!

Last night, after making the Pumpkin and Sausage Penne, I still had half a large can of pumpkin left.  I also had about 2 cups of grated zucchini left from zucchini bread I made a week ago.  I was thinking of ways to combine them when I ran across this yummy looking pumpkin pancake recipe on High Heels & Grills blog.  Perfect!  So, following is the pumpkin pancake recipe.  And below that, I will include my additions/substitutions to make PZ (Pumpkin Zucchini) Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes

  • 3 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. ginger
  • 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1 (15 oz) can Libby’s pure pumpkin
  • 3 cups buttermilk
  • 3 eggs
  1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and brown sugar, combining well.
  2. Add pumpkin, buttermilk, and eggs to dry ingredients and mix gently. {If batter seems stiff, add water until it can be easily spooned onto a griddle.}
  3. Heat griddle to medium heat and grease lightly.
  4. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle and let cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
  5. Let other side cook again until lightly browned.
  6. Repeat these steps until all the batter is gone.

and now, my tweaks for PZ (Pumpkin Zucchini) Pancakes:

  • Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
  • For this morning, I replaced the buttermilk with soured milk (a mix of 2 3/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup lemon juice) but if I have plain yogurt on hand, I substitute the buttermilk with 2 cups milk and 1 cup yogurt (may need more milk if the batter seems too thick)

YUMMY SCONES

We used to attend this neat church in Louisiana that actually served breakfast before the first service every Sunday. And it wasn’t just donuts and coffee, but a full-fledged breakfast! And me, with my love for baking? How could I resist? So these scones are one of many of the baked goodies I would bring. And believe me, they’re easy enough that I could make them in the morning before heading to church!! The recipe is from Taste of Home, the Dec./Jan ’03 issue.

4 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tbs sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup cold butter (no substitutes!)
1 egg, separated
1 1/2 cups flavored non-dairy creamer, or half and half, (or, in a pinch, I’ve used a can of evaporated milk)

Your choice of extras.
We like::
Orange zest and dried cranberries
Finely chopped pecans and/or mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients; cut in the butter (I actually do this first part in a food processor and then dump it in a bowl once the mixture is crumbly). In a separate, smaller bwl, whisk egg yolk and creamer; add to dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in the extras of your choice. Knead in the bowl 10 times. Dough should be slightly sticky. Divide dough in half. Pat each portion into a 7 inch circle on a greased cookie sheet. Cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate them.

Beat egg white, brush over dough. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and serve.

Beer Pancakes

Did that title catch your attention like it did mine, the first time I saw it? I love trying crazy, new things, so of course I had to try this. I was looking for yummy recipes to take on our camping trip. I had planned to make my own pancake mix (where you would then add the eggs and milk and oil when you were ready to cook them) but seeing this recipe, I eagerly went and bought store bought pancake mix! And hubby had bought some raspberry beer, which was AMAZING in this, as there was a slight raspberry taste

Pancake mix (the kind that only requires the addition of water)
beer

Simply follow the instructions on the package substituting the beer (or soda) for the water. That’s it! So simple! And so yummy! Really does taste like buttermilk pancakes!

(For my Mormon friends and any others who don’t use alcohol, you can actually make this with soda as well, I just think using beer for breakfast is funny and it tastes so yummy!!)

Mini Quiches

When I made these for breakfast, I started out following a recipe, but then just took off with it, so here’s what I did:

2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup half and half or evap milk
1/2 cup mayo (btw, we LOVE the Best Foods Canola Oil mayo! Give it a try!)
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup cooked ham, bacon or sausage
4 oz fresh mushrooms
1/3 cup onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 12 muffin cups + 1 small glass oven-safe dish with cooking spray.
In a food processor, chop up meat, mushrooms and onion (fairly small, but don’t puree it!)
Combine eggs, mayo, salt, pepper, and flour in bowl and beat with egg beater. Add chopped meat-veggie mix and shredded cheese. Mix to combine.
Scoop batter(I use an ice-cream scoop with the built in scraper for making these and muffins) into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 22 minutes or until quiches are lightly browned and puffed. A knife inserted in the middle of one should come out clean. Let cool for about 10 minutes (they will deflate, but that’s okay) and enjoy!!

Aussie Bites

One of my sisters introduced me to a store bought version of Aussie Bites and they were WONDERFUL!!  I found a recipe online and have finally gotten around to making them (seriously, it’s been years since I had them) and they are SO good!!  Seriously worth the effort of gathering together all the good stuff!

2 cups oats

2 cups whole wheat flour (yes, seriously, no white flour)

2/3 c brown sugar

1 (3 1/2 oz ) can unsweetened coconut (I only had a bag of sweetened, so I just threw in a huge handful of that)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup dried fruit (raisins, dates, figs, cranberries, etc) (I used chopped dates)

1/4 cup honey

1 cup unsalted butter (I used salted, it’s not that important to me)

1 tsp baking soda

2 Tbs hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl.

Melt honey and butter together in microwave; set aside.

Mix baking soda with hot water and add to butter mixture.

Pour butter mixture into dry ingredients and mix well (will be kind of dry and crumbly).

Place tablespoons of mixture into non-stick mini-muffin cups (no need to grease) and flatten mixture slightly.  Bake 10 min. or until golden.  Cool on wire racks.

Okay, and here’s the Amy-tweaks….I couldn’t find my mini-muffin pan (which I hate anyway, so no real loss there) so I decided to make “mookies”….what’s mookies, you ask?  Mookies are muffins that you make like cookies!  So I scooped up some dough, shaped it into a ball and flattened it slightly and put it on a large cookie sheet.  Worked GREAT and so much nicer than a mini-muffin pan (unless you’ve got mini elves who don’t mind cleaning all those mini holes!)  I also added a handful of mini-chocolate chips, to entice the children, but really they didn’t need them at all…these things are GOOD!!  Be careful you don’t eat to many at a time though, they are very filling!!

Sleeping In Breakfast Casserole

Just because it says “sleeping in”, doesn’t mean you should not double check your alarm clock!!  I made this for the weekend catering for the AEF retreat staff….I was supposed to get up at 5:30 to get it going in the oven….I woke up at 7!!!!!  Yowza!!!  But people ate it later for lunches and snacks, so it was still enjoyed by all!!

Prep Time: 20 minutes + it soaks overnight while you sleep!

Cook Time: 1 hour

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

6 whole Onion Rolls

1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 8 ounces Cream Cheese

1 stick Butter

10 whole Eggs

2 cups Milk

1 teaspoon Chopped Chives

1 teaspoons Dry Mustard

1/2 teaspoons Salt

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Get Cooking:

Generously butter an 9×13 baking dish.

Tear onion rolls into chunks and place them in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese, then tear cream cheese into small pieces and place over the top. Cut 1 stick butter into pats and place over the top.

Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the top of the dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, bake at 325 degrees, covered, for 45 minutes. The remove foil and continue baking at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

http://www.homewithmandy.com/2008/10/sleepin-in-breakfast-casserole.html