Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

I used my favorite buttermilk pancake recipe and added in mashed banana and chocolate chips. My 7 year old could not get enough of these, they are so moist and tender. I think next time I will add in some chopped banana in addition to the mashed.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 c. all purpose flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. low fat buttermilk
1 Tbs canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. mashed banana
1/4 c. mini chocolate chips
1/4 of a banana, chopped, optional

In mixing bowl whisk together first 5 ingredients, through salt.
In separate bowl combine next 5 ingredients, through banana. Add the wet ingredients into the dry. Sprinkle chocolate chips and chopped banana on top. Slowly stir everything together until all ingredients are incorporated, you don't want to overmix, there should be lumps. I like to coat my pan with butter and then use a 1/4 c. scoop to place my batter on the frying pan. Cook until bubbles form on top and edges look set, then flip. When nicely browned remove and place on plate and repeat with remaining batter. I usually get about 8-10 4" pancakes from this recipe.

Lemon Ricotta Fritters with Sweet Berry Sauce

Mmmmm, mmmmm, my family ate good this morning! These are delicious little pockets of heaven. The fritters aren't too sweet, so they go perfectly with the sweet berry sauce.

Lemon Ricotta Fritters with Sweet Berry Sauce

First heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a large wide heavy saucepan. Place candy or deep fry thermometer in oil, you want the oil to be 365-370 when you are ready to fry the fritters.

For the Sauce:
1 lb. strawberries, rinsed and cut in quarters
1/2 small container raspberries
1/2 small container blackberries
(or you could substitute a frozen berry blend and just thaw them first)
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Place all berries in a bowl. Pour sugar over the top and stir, let sit 15 minutes. Gently mash with a potato masher. Pour into a medium saucepan and heat on medium until thickened a little and sugar is dissolved, about 7-8 minutes. Pour into a serving bowl and place in freezer to cool a little while you are making the fritters.

For the Fritters:

3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs. lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. whole milk ricotta
2 large eggs
3 rounded Tbs. sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting
Lemon zest for garnish

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt; set aside. In separate bowl whisk together the ricotta, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and stir gently to combine. At this point the oil should be 365-370 degrees F. Working in batches, gently drop by tablespoons (I used the Pampered Chef cookie scoop) the batter in the oil, about 5 per batch. Turning occasionally, let fry until a deep golden color, about 4 minutes. You can take one out and cut in half to check and see if it is done. Repeat with remaining batter. Place cooked fritters on paper towels to dry. Serve over berry sauce and dust with powdered sugar and lemon zest. Makes approximately 10-12 fritters.

Adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe

Scrambled Egg Muffins

I thought these were so cute and anything tastes better in a muffin cup right? Very easy to do, the ingredient combinations are endless, be creative! I used ham, but you could use chopped bacon or cooked sausage, actually anything you would put in an omelette would be good in these.

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) bulk pork sausage or any kind of breakfast meat
12 eggs
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped green bell pepper
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Spray liberally a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the onion, green pepper, and seasonings. Stir in the sausage and cheddar cheese. Spoon by 1/3 cupfuls into greased muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Best if eaten immediately while hot!

Blueberry Muffins

This is a new blueberry muffin recipe that I found in a Fine Cooking magazine. They are really delicious, especially with the glaze on top. It's really important with this recipe to not overmix the batter, that's why you add the fruit before the batter is fully mixed. I love that the batter overflows onto the pan and forms a big muffin top (Seinfield anyone?) I take out the room temp ingredients and melt the butter an hour before I make these.

Blueberry Muffins

Cooking spray for the pan
3 1/2 c. all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
10 tbs. butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 c. whole milk, at room temp
1 c. sour cream, at room temp
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 large egg yolk, at room temp
2 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (save lemon for glaze)
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw if frozen)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray the top of a 12 cup muffin tin and then line the cups with paper or foil baking cups. (Spraying the pan keeps the muffin tops from sticking)

In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well.
In a medium bowl whisk together the sugar, butter, milk, sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, and zest until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold together gently with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are mostly moistened, there should still be quite a few streaks of flour. It will be lumpy, that is okay. Sprinkle the blueberries on the top of the batter and fold them in until just combined. (The batter will still be lumpy, do not try to smooth it out)
Fill the muffin cups, the batter should mound higher than the rim of the cups by 3/4".
Bake until the muffins are golden brown and spring back lightly when you press on the middle, about 35 minutes. The muffin tops will meld together. Let the pan cool for 15 minutes. Use a butter knife to separate the tops, invert the pan and pop out the muffins.
Let muffins cool for 30 minutes before drizzling glaze.

For Glaze:

2 c. powdered sugar
fresh lemon juice (from lemon that you zested)

Whisk together powdered sugar and enough fresh lemon juice to make a runny glaze. Drizzly liberally over muffins, let set to harden.

Blueberry Sauce and Buttermilk Pancakes

I'm back! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, my family has been going through a two month relocation process! Not fun, I'm so glad it's over! We are now settled and here are some of my favorite new recipes...

This blueberry sauce is so yummy! I served it on pancakes, but it would be delicious on ice cream too. I'm tempted to can it so I have it on hand all of the time! It's a cinch to put together. I'm posting my buttermilk pancake recipe again, I started adding vanilla and I think it really puts them over the top! Ignore the styrofoam plates, I was tired of doing dishes :)


Blueberry Sauce

2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbs water
1/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. water
1/8 tsp salt
2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Whisk together cornstarch and water in a saucepan. Add in sugar, 1/3 c. water, and salt. Turn heat on to medium and cook until slightly thickened. Add blueberries, boil for 3-4 minutes. Serve warm over ice cream, pancakes, etc. Makes 2-3 cups and enough for my pancake recipe below.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 c. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. canola oil (or vegetable oil)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
stick of cold butter

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup, level with knife, add to large bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of mixture, set aside.
In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add to dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
Heat skillet to medium low heat. With cold stick of butter, unpeel end and rub a thin layer of butter over pan. Drop about a 1/4 c. batter onto skillet. Flip pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Remove from pan, and re-butter, then add more batter, continue this way with the rest of the batter.
Yields 9 4 inch pancakes.

Sausage and Cheese Biscuits

My family LOVED these! They kind of tasted like a sausage and cheese mcmuffin but way better! The biscuit itself was moist and delicious and the pockets of melted cheese were heavenly. A great breakfast or brunch item.
Thanks King Arthur Flour again for a great recipe!

Sausage and Cheese Biscuits

3 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. cold butter, cut in pats
1 c. buttermilk (or plain yogurt or sour cream can be substituted)
2 c. cooked and sliced Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
1 c. diced cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 425.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Work in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.
Gently stir in the sausage and cheese. Stir in the buttermilk until the mixture is evenly moistened.
Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat and roll it into an 8"X10" rectangle, about 3/4" thick. (Try to handle it as little as possible, just like scones, they less you handle it, they better they will be!)
Cut the dough into 16-20 squares depending on how big you want them.
Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet about 1" apart.
Bake the biscuits for about 20 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately brush tops with melted butter.
Let cool a little and serve warm!

Overnight Caramel Apple French Toast

This french toast is sooooooo good and is really worth the wait and extra time! I've always used artisan sourdough bread for this and it's really delicious, but I'm sure Texas toast (the thick sliced bread) would work well too. I love making this when I have guests because it's more impressive than having cereal for breakfast :) and because you do all the prep work at night so you just pop it in the oven in the morning, so quick and easy.

Overnight Caramel Apple French Toast

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 Tbs. light corn syrup
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
3 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
9 slices sourdough bread, french bread, or Texas Toast bread (3/4" thick)

In small pan cook brown sugar, butter, and syrup until thick, about 5-7 minutes. Pour into ungreased 13X9 baking dish. Arrange apples on top of caramel. Beat eggs, milk and vanilla together. Dip bread slices in egg mixture. Place on top of apples. Pour excess egg mixture over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Loosen sides and then invert onto baking sheet or large serving dish. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Pancakes w/Toasted Walnuts & Maple Syrup

Happy Fall Everyone! This is my favorite time of the year, if I didn't live in Arizona, it would be beautiful outside now, but I do, and it isn't. :)
I had some leftover pumpkin puree that I wanted to use up so I decided to experiment and alter my buttermilk pancake recipe into pumpkin pancakes. I thought they turned out really good and my family loved them. There are all sorts of fun ways to serve these, I wanted to do a cinnamon cream on top, but my cream got pushed to the back of the refrigerator and froze! So I toasted some walnuts (pecans would be good too) and stirred in some pure Maple syrup (I like grade B). If I were my mom, I would have made these into little pumpkin shaped pancakes (I have one of the cutest moms ever!). Anyway, I'm sure you can think of a topping that you will love too.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
4 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (found in the spice aisle)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 c. pumkin puree (from can)

Combine flour through cinnamon. Whisk until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center and set aside.
Combine buttermilk through pumpkin in separate bowl, whisk to combine. Pour into well of dry ingredients. Stir gently until smooth.
Place large frying pan/skillet on stove top over medium low heat. Let warm up and then grease pan with butter (I like cooking my pancakes in butter instead of cooking spray). Drop batter by 1/4 cups onto skillet. Cook until edges look done and then flip. Makes nine 4 inch pancakes.

In a medium skillet over medium heat I poured in 1/2 c. walnuts. Toast for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and add in maple syrup, stir immediately and keep stirring until no longer bubbly, pour over pancakes and serve!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

So I'm convinced that any baked good with sour cream or buttermilk in it is going to be delicious! I made this coffee cake for brunch today and everyone loved it. It was super moist (yet still chewy, which I love). It was pretty easy too, and when you're done, it's going to look beautiful! Almost too good to eat (wait a minute, nothing ever looks too good to eat! :) My four year old chowed down on it.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Brown Sugar Filling:
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Coffee Cake:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
2 1/2 c. sour cream

Glaze:
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs. milk

Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of a fluted tube (Bundt) cake pan.
In small bowl combine all filling ingredients, stir until combined and set aside.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In large bowl beat sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs together for 2 minutes on medium speed. (Don't try to save time by only beating a little bit, there was a big difference in the batter after beating for two minutes) On low speed, beat 1/3 of flour mixture into batter. Beat in 1/3 of sour cream. Repeat adding flour and sour cream alternately until well blended.
Spread 1/3 of batter into bottom of pan. Sprinkle half of filling mixture over batter. Cover with another third of the batter, then the last half of the filling, and last third of the batter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto plate. Let cool completely.
Beat together glaze ingredients, I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to glaze and it turned out great. The glaze should be thick, but still thin enough to "fall" over cake. Pour glaze over cake by spoonfulls, let set for at least 1/2 hour and serve!

Banana Nut Muffins

I had my heart set on making my Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread today, but my husband requested Banana Nut Muffins instead, so, because I love him so much, I acquiesced and made the muffins. I got this recipe from Tyler Florence (Food Network). I made half of the batch plain banana nut, and the other half I added chocolate chips. It is now 10:45 at night and I am eating both of them, yes, I am sacrificing my waistline for the sake of this blog :) Yum, these are really good, really moist, just like mini banana breads. Next time I will definitely sprinkle extra chopped pecans on top. I think I like it without chocolate better, but if you want to add chocolate, try mini chocolate chips instead of the regular size. Thank you Tyler Florence!

Banana Nut Muffins

2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 overripe bananas
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c. pecans, chopped
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips, Optional

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly butter, or place muffin papers, in 2 muffins tins.
In large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for about 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until combined. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Spoon about 1/4 c. batter into each muffin cup, filling it up about 2/3 of the way. Give them a tap on the counter to get any air bubbles out. Bake until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean, 15-18 minutes. Serve warm with butter or at room temp. Makes 24 muffins.

Cinnamon Rolls

I love cinnamon rolls, I hope you enjoy this recipe! Today I tried a little something different and I zested and juiced one medium orange. I added most of the zest and the juice to the dough, and I put the remaining zest in the cream cheese frosting. It turned out really good, I think I'll do it every time. When you add the juice (about 1/4 cup), subtract 1/4 c. water from the recipe so you don't have to add more flour.

Cinnamon Rolls (actually this is my breadstick recipe I posted in May, just made into cinnamon rolls)

2 pkgs. (or 4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar, divided
2 c. warm water (between 105 and 110 degrees, or lukewarm)
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter, softened
Cinnamon and sugar
Brown sugar

Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbs. butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar
Milk

In large mixing bowl, or KitchenAid, dissolve yeast and 1 Tbs. of sugar in 1 c. of the warm water(105-110 degrees). Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the oil, egg, remaining sugar, 2 c. of flour, and salt, beat until smooth. Slowly add the remaining flour until a soft dough forms, knead for 6 minutes.
Place in greased bowl, turning once to coat. Cover and let rise 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Punch down dough and lay out on floured surface. Fold dough over on itself like an envelope. Roll out to a rectangle, dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.
Brush butter over dough. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar and brown sugar over top, be generous! Starting at one end, roll up dough. Cut into 2 inch slices. Place in a greased 13 X9 pan.
Cover and let rise 45 minutes.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until light golden brown.

For frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Add enough milk to make it the consistency you want.

French Toast

I've been making this recipe for years now, I think I got it from my sister-in-law Emma. It's a twist on plain french toast that I know you'll love!

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French Toast

4 eggs

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

Orange juice (I use about 1/2 an orange, just squeeze the juice into the eggs, or you can use 1 Tbs. orange juice concentrate)

About 12 slices bread (In the pic above I've used sourdough bread from Costco, it was really good, the texas toast thick-cut bread is great too)

Whisk together the eggs, cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and orange juice. Preheat a large frying pan. Coat pan with thin layer of butter. Working with about 2-3 slices of bread at a time, dip each side of the bread into the egg mixture and place in hot pan. Cook each side until done, about 2 minutes each side. Repeat with remaining bread slices.

I love to top it off with strawberries and cream!

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes, Buttermilk Pancake Recipe

This has got to be the best pancake recipe I've ever tried. It is from my Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. It's awesome, the pancakes turn out light and fluffy and they melt in your mouth. I was going to make them this morning with just cinnamon chips in them, but my husband suggested apples too (Yay Ben!). This combination is to die for!


Buttermilk Pancakes

1 c. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. canola oil (or vegetable oil)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
stick of cold butter

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup, level with knife, add to large bowl. Add sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of mixture, set aside.
In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, and egg. Stir to combine. Add to dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
Heat skillet to medium low heat. With cold stick of butter, unpeel end and rub a thin layer of butter over pan. Drop about a 1/4 c. batter onto skillet. Flip pancakes when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Remove from pan, and re-butter, then add more batter, continue this way with the rest of the batter.
Yields 9 4 inch pancakes.

Apple Cinnamon Version:
After stirring the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together a couple of times, add 1 whole apple, peeled and grated, to batter (I used Fuji). Add 1/3 c. cinnamon chips, or 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
I added a little cinnamon to Cool Whip to serve on top of pancakes, it would also be yummy to use real whipping cream, whipped up with some cinnamon.

Blueberry Version:
Soak 1 c. dried blueberries in hot water for 5 minutes. Add to batter. I tried using fresh blueberries once, and it was too bitter for my taste.

Cinnamon Banana Version:
Thickly slice two bananas, cut slices in half. Add cut bananas and 1/2 tsp cinnamon to batter. These are delicious! I learned this combo from my sister-in-law Emma!