- Caramel Apple Pastries -

Quick, easy, and sophisticated.

Caramel Apple Pastries

Ingredients for Pastry:
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry (thawed overnight)
1 Granny Smith Apple
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 T. Brown Sugar
1 egg.
Splash of Milk

Ingredients for the Caramel:
2 T. Sugar
3 tsp. Water
1 tsp. light Corn Syrup
1 T. Butter
2 T. Heavy Cream
pinch of Salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 430 degrees, or whatever temperature it says to set it at on the puff pastry package. Spread out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured counter. Cut into four squares with sharp knife. Place the squares on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Cut the core out of the apple. Slice the apple into very thin slices. Put the slices into a bowl and mix with the cinnamon and brown sugar. Then lay the slices on the pastry squares from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, overlapping each slice slightly. Do this with each pastry square. Then take the empty corners and fold them toward each other over the apple slices. In a bowl whisk together the egg and milk and then brush the pastry with the wash. Put into the over for 15-20 minutes (might vary with different puff pastry brands) until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

In a small, nonstick saucepan, over a medium heat, stir together the sugar, water, and corn syrup. Let it sit over the heat, bubbling until it browns, not too dark, but caramely. Immediately add the butter and cream and stir till the caramel sauce forms. Add the pinch of salt and remove from heat. Drizzle over the pastries.

Makes 4 

Enjoy!

Caramel and Peanut-Butter Drizzled Banana topped French Toast

Got my wisdom teeth out Monday, let myself recover for two days before totally overdoing it by jumping right back into the kitchen and making up a recipe of caramel and peanut-butter drizzled banana topped french toast. Now I'm lying on the couch, dizzy, lightheaded, but with a full belly. Sadly, some technical issues prevented this dish from being perfect. I wasn't really counting on the caramel hardening quite so much and so quickly (which is also bad for a person recovering from a wisdom teeth extraction to eat). I felt stupid, and a little let down, but it made for some good photos, and the flavor was yummy! Plus I've thought up a simpler, less sticky version which is below.

Caramel and Peanut Butter Drizzled Banana Topped French Toast

Ingredients:
1 lrg. egg
1/4 c. milk
2 T. Heavy Cream
Dash of Vanilla
2 slices of French Bread
1 Banana, sliced
Some jarred Caramel Sauce
1 T. Peanut Butter

Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, milk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Butter a griddle pan and put over a medium heat. Once hot, soak each side of each piece of bread for a few seconds in the egg mixture. Put onto the griddle pan and cook a few minutes on each side (about three minutes). Meanwhile, in a tiny saucepan, melt the peanut butter over a medium-low heat, set aside. Once the egg in the bread is cooked all the way through, and the bread is lightly browned in color on the outside, remove from pan and plate. Top the french toast with the bananas. Using the directions on the caramel jar, heat the caramel until you can drizzle it. Drizzle the toast and bananas with the melted peanut butter and a few spoonfuls of the warm caramel sauce. Eat while hot. Serves 1.

Enjoy!

- Delicious Glazed Doughnuts -

For the first time ever I made real fried doughnuts! I'm so excited about them! I found a great and really easy looking recipe on pinterest and decided to test it out! The difference was that I just glazed them then dipped some of them in chocolate ganache instead of doing the whole coffee glaze with bacon. These are very easy to do and I highly recommend them: Coffee-Biscoff-Bacon Doughnuts
 

 

 

- Red Raspberry Smoothie -

Smoothies are the epitome of health food, apparently, and the nice thing about them is how versatile they are. You can have them with breakfast, as a snack, after a meal, or after every meal! Plus there are so many different flavors you can choose from. I prefer berry types. No green! I've had cherry smoothies, which are really delicious, but my favorite berry is the raspberry, so naturally.... Red Raspberry Smoothie! I also think putting a bit of lime in it wouldn't go amiss either. Maybe for another day...

Red Raspberry Smoothie

1/2 c. Water

1/2 c. Sugar

12 oz. frozen Raspberries

1 1/2 c. Vanilla Yogurt

Whipped Cream to top.

Directions:

To make a simple syrup, put the water and sugar together in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Stir with wooden spoon till the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.

In a blender, add together the raspberries, yogurt, and simple syrup. Turn blender onto high till everything is blended together and brightly colored!

Pour into two tall glasses and top with dollops of whipped cream.

Enjoy!

- Chicken with Maple Cream Sauce -

When I made this recipe for my family, my sister said "This is like eating pancakes with chicken!" It does sort of have the feeling of breakfast with all the qualities of dinner. So for all of you people out there who don't like breakfast for dinner, try this, because this is about as close as you can get without being "breakfast for dinner"! 

 

Chicken with Maple Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 c. Heavy Cream

1 1/2 T. Maple Syrup 

6 Chicken Breasts

3 eggs

1 c. Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

1 1/2 c. Panko Breadcrumbs

Olive Oil

2 strips cooked bacon, crumbled 

Directions:

Over medium/low heat, whisk together heavy cream and maple syrup. Let sit at a simmer and reduce to about half of what it was, whisking occasionally.

Meanwhile, while that is reducing, pound out your chicken breast till about 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick. Whisk egg together in a bowl. Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a plate. Put breadcrumbs on a separate plate. Coat the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and heat on medium heath. Coat each chicken breast in the egg, then in the flour, then in the egg again, and lastly in the the breadcrumbs. Once the oil is hot, put in the chicken, letting cook for about 3-5 minutes on one side, and then 3-5 minutes on the other. When the chicken is cooked all the way through, remove from pan and arrange on a plate. Pour the maple cream sauce over it and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon. 

Enjoy!

- Cranberry Walnut Bread -

Don't be frightened! I think many people get frightened at the thought of something with cranberries in it. For my food related business I once put out some Orange Cranberry Bread, and not one loaf sold. And because it was amazingly delicious bread, and looked great, I couldn't understand why. My Mom said it was probably because people are not sure about the cranberries. Sour? Is that it people? Is that the reason? The sour part, personally, I consider the point, and I highly recommend it to all those dubious and non-dubious. It turns the flavor tables on you in a extremely addicting way that you won't regret. Until you gain an extra ten pounds from eating three loaves in a row, that you'll regret, but I do not take any responsibility for the actions of the uncontrollable.

So I decided that instead of doing just a plain cranberry bread, I would add a little bit of a twist (and a crunch) with walnuts! Now who doesn't like a good walnut? With all the flavors going on in this bread, I wasn't sure it was going to work out. My uncertainty was put to rest when I tasted it. You must have a try too!

 

 

Cranberry Walnut Bread

Ingredients:
2 c. All Purpose Flour
2/3 c. Granulated Sugar
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 c. Buttermilk
1 tsp. Orange Zest
1/2 c. (1 stick) Butter (melted)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 c. Cranberries
1/2 c. Chopped Walnuts
1 T. Flour

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 375. Spray a 9x5x3 loaf pan with cooking spray, and line with parchment paper.

In electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until blended.

In medium bowl, mix together buttermilk, melted butter, and orange zest. With mixer on low speed, add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients until well blended. On medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, just until blended.

In a small bowl mix together the 1 T. flour with the cranberries. With electric mixer on a low speed, add the cranberries and the walnuts just until mixed together.

Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the oven for an hour to an hour and ten minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Bon Appetite!

- French Toast with Apple-Maple-Fig Spread -

I should confess, I'm all for eating breakfast for dinner. I think some people have written religions against it, but I'm not about to let that stop me! I see no reason to deprive yourself of any type of yumminess because of the name of the meal or the time of day you eat it at... no reason! 

To those who believe it is just wrong to partake of breakfast for dinner, I implore you: prolong this terrible sadness in your life no more! Let yourself go... fall into thick butter, juicy bacon, and mile high pancakes. Your life does not have to be this depressing, you can enjoy a life full of happiness and freedom if you just break your own vows and place before you at the evening meal a plate of French Toast with Apple-Maple-Fig Spread. This is my plea to you sad folk!

But please, don't let this make you think that you can't have this French Toast for breakfast either. Oh no, anytime of the day, my friends... anytime.

So why the drama? Well, I'm kind of in love, and I can't help myself. I should write a poetic song about this dish, it may be the only way to express my passions.

See? What'd I tell you? Am I right, or am I right. 

Fig Spread: a can't beat.

And it's perfect with bacon. But I will torture you no further with photos of fatty deliciousness. Here's how you make it. =)

French Toast with Apple-Maple-Fig Spread

Ingredients:

1 loaf of French Bread cut into 1 inch slices

3 cups of Milk

2 large dashes of Vanilla

5 Eggs

1/2 cup of Apple Sauce

2 T. Maple Syrup (the real stuff now)

2 T. Brown Sugar

1/4 cup Fig Jam (mine was labeled as fig spread)

1 apple, sliced thinly (optional)

Directions:

In bowl whisk together milk, vanilla, and eggs. Pour into a 9x13 dish. Heat a flat nonstick pan over a medium/low heat. Drop as many slices as will fit on the pan into the eggs mixture. Soak the bread for a second or two on each side. Place on pan and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Continue this with all the sliced until you have cooked up the entire loaf.

Meanwhile, while you work with the bread, whisk together in small saucepan over a medium heat the apple sauce, maple syrup, brown sugar, fig jam, until warm and all the lumps from the jam are gone and everything is mixed together well.

Place the cooked french toast slices on a large plate. Spread or drizzle the apple-maple-fig spread over each slice. Cover each slice with the apple slices as a festive option. Bon Appetite!

- Uber Thick Chocolate Chip Pancakes -

Pancakes - the most iconic breakfast in America, and probably most of the World! Plus they come in so many different varieties. There are plain pancakes, chocolate pancakes, apple pancakes, buttermilk pancakes, pancake cakes, skillet pancakes, blueberry pancakes, and on an on the list goes. Everyone has a favorite. For a long time as a child I was always a waffle girl. When each of us kids got to pick a yummy breakfast on our birthdays every year, I would always pick the waffle over the pancake. I'm not sure why... I'm guessing it was probably my love for butter and how much more that butter could get trapped in those little indents, lending more fattening flavor. Yeah...I think that was it. Lately, however, I'm starting to hold the Chocolate Chip Pancake over the waffle. Now, ladies and gentlemen, when I say chocolate chip pancakes, what I really mean is CHOCOLATE CHIP pancakes. You can't get by with just seven chocolate chips in a pancake, it really has to be jam packed, walking that very narrow line between "pancakes for breakfast" and "dessert for breakfast".

So today I created my own Uber Thick Jam Packed Chocolate Chip Pancakes! I was so far over the moon with these I almost froze to death in space, true story. =)

So I started with flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. After whisking together, the eggs, milk, and vanilla are added, then those chocolate chips.

They cook for about two minutes on each side over a medium heat till they have that lovely golden-brown color!

Butter them up on a plate, and eat!

Uber Thick Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1 T. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 cups Milk

3 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions:

In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk all together till well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Butter a flat non-stick pan and heat on the stove top over a medium heat. With a 1/4 measuring cup, scoop a 1/4 cup, plus a little more, of the mixture onto the hot pan. Fit as many as you can on the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, flip, and cook for another 2 minutes (the first ones might take a little longer). Continue till all the batter is gone. Butter up the pancakes and eat up! 

Makes about 12 pancakes.

Enjoy!

-J.

- Lemon Blueberry Scones -