Apple Pancake Rings

A few weeks ago I was at a friend’s house meeting her stinkin’ cute little baby boy! We were chatting, laughing, and just plain old catchin’ up while I was snuggling the little one. The TV was on in the background, but neither one of us were paying much attention to it. That is, until I heard the word “pancake!” Immediately my ears perked up and my eyes were glued to the television. And then they mentioned “apple,” which is another one of my love childs (I eat one nearly every day!) Put the two together– apples and pancakes– and I suddenly have a new obsession!

They look like normal, ordinary pancakes, don’t they? And where are the apples I speak of?!?

There they are! In the middle! Coated in delicious pancake batter that is jazzed up with a little pumpkin pie spice and lemon zest!

I’m serious when I say obsession. Eat them three days in a row kind of obsession. And even made a special trip to the grocery store just for apples. Didn’t buy a single thing other than apples!

In the midst of this obsession, I tried the pancakes with three different kinds of apples! And Gala definitely won the contest! It’s a slightly softer apple. Which just seems like a better match to the fluffy pancakes.

 

Apple Pancake Rings (Featured on The Chew)

1 cup Bisquick baking mix

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Zest of 1/2 a lemon

2 medium apples, pared and cored

 

Beat baking mix, egg, and milk with rotary beater until smooth. Add pumpkin pie spice and lemon zest to batter and mix until incorporated.

Core and cut apples crosswise into 1/8″ slices.

Using a toothpick or knife, dip apple slices into the batter. Place on a greased griddle. Cook on medium-hot griddle until golden brown. Serve hot with syrup or cinnamon and sugar.

 

*I did also try making these using a just-add-water pancake mix and they were just as delicious. But I did still add in the pumpkin pie spice and lemon zest.

 

Coffeecake LOADED with streusel

I had THREE pieces in one day! Zach had two pieces. Which means the two of us ate nearly half of a 9×13 pan! I think that should be a pretty dang good indicator of how freaking delicious it is!

Not enough? Okay, how about the fact that I gave up having a bun with burger so that I could save my bread serving for coffeecake! And then decided it was legit to have a piece of coffeecake in replacement for both the top and bottom parts of the bun. Meaning my dinner consisted of a bun-less burger and two pieces of coffeecake! And I hereby vote this the best dinner of 2011!

And yes that is a little brown sugar layer in the middle! Pretty essential given the thickness of the coffeecake! Perfect way to break up the cakey-ness!

This morning was the first time that I have actually drank a cup of coffee with my coffeecake! Bitterness of the coffee. Sweetness of the cake. Makes for a perfect pair!

Literally ate a bite of cake, took a sip of coffee, and repeated (multiple times of course!)

Cinnamon Struesel Coffeecake

Streusel:

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cocoa

Cake:

3/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 eggs

 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cup milk

3 3/4 cup flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.

Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring till well combined. Set the topping aside.

Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Set the filling aside.

To make the cake, in a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time. Beating well after adding each egg.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream and milk till well combined. You don’t need to whisk out all the lumps.

Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

Spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups) into the prepared pan, spreading all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the filling on top of the batter. Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter. Don’t combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Make sure to test with a toothpick or cake tester. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm with a little butter on top and a cup of hot coffee!

Source: King Arthur Flour

Switching Gears

I am trying my absolute hardest to avoid everything pumpkin for at least a week. So I’m switching fall-flavor gears and moving onto apple! Which I love almost equally as much! Mainly because of apple’s partner in crime, cinnamon!

I died and went to heaven after my first baked oatmeal. And since then I have been obsessed with baked oatmeals!

I might have a little confession to make regarding this baked apple oatmeal. The first time I made it I had a heaping bowl for breakfast and then divided the leftovers into a few containers to have for breakfast the remainder of the week. Well my attempt at planning ahead ended in an epic fail. Ended up eating one of the containers after I got home from the gym. And then heated up the final container for lunch! Oops! So in otherwords, I ate the whole darn casserole size oatmeal in a mere four hours! Oink-oink!

Yes that is a little sprinkle of brown sugar on top! Brown sugar is another one of my weaknesses! Eat it by the spoonfuls. Almost daily.

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/4 light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup peeled and diced apples

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish with cooking spray

In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, applesauce, butter, egg, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients. Stir until combined. Fold in the diced apples. Pour mixture into greased pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until oatmeal is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve while warm. May top with brown sugar, raisins, craisins, or chopped nuts.

Source: Two Peas and Their Pod

Breakfast Quesadillas

Decided to make something a little more fun and exciting this morning for breakfast. And by-golly I deserve it! Just got home from working my third twelve hour night shift and I’m not even tired! Which could possibly be related to the three cups of coffee I had during the night {yes Sarah, I am a coffee drinker now!} Needless to say I have just a tiny bit of energy that still needs to be burned off before I can relax and hit the pillow! And it’s always easier to fall asleep when the belly is full!

Love me some quesadillas!

The refrigerator is kind of bare right now so I didn’t have a ton of filling options. Stuck with something pretty simple. Eggs, green onions, feta cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, and a dash of wild mushroom seasoning.

Already dreaming up other fun filling options! Spinach, peppers, and tomatoes are up next! And maybe a little salsa dip! Options are endless!

 

Breakfast Quesadillas

2 eggs

3 green onions

1 tablespoon feta cheese

sprinkle of cheddar cheese

dash of wild mushroom seasoning

1 tablespoon butter

2 flour tortillas

 

In a small skillet scramble eggs and green onions. Stir in feta cheese. Scoop into small bowl and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Lay a tortilla in butter. Evenly spread egg mixture over tortilla. Top with cheddar cheese and mushroom seasoning. Place other tortilla on top and press down. Cook until tortilla is golden brown. Flip quesadilla. Cook second side until golden brown. Slice into quarters and inhale!

 

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

I love, love, love all carbohydrates! With probably about 90% of the food that goes in my mouth being some form of carb. And no, they are not always the “good” carbs! I have a huge sweet tooth and just may be slightly addicted to sugar! Nothing wrong with finishing every meal with a little sweet treat, right? Umm, wrong! Totally not necessary. I have tried several times to kick this habit, but have always failed miserably! So apparently a different approach is needed.

And that approach entails more protein and less carbs! Starting with breakfast. Ignore that slice of toast on the plate! It’s only there as a prop! Okay, okay I may have eaten half of it. Oops! {FAIL}

I’ve been trying to start every morning off with a few eggs. And it usually goes a little something like this…Heat pan. Crack eggs. Get impatient. Try to flip too soon. Crack yolk. Runny egg mess in frying pan. End up with scrambled eggs. Wish I was eating oatmeal instead.

I’m not really a fan of scrambled eggs unless the works is mixed into them. But who has time to chop peppers, tomatoes, and onions before work.  Especially if you hit snooze on your alarm clock ten times. We’ll fix that habit at a later date!

But this morning I started the process with scrambled eggs being the goal. All because I found a post about the “perfect” scrambled eggs that pretty much told me I’ve doing it all wrong. Apparently there is a method to the madness. Thought I’d give it a shot. Being that I always end up with scrambled eggs anyways, I might as well do it right and hopefully actually like eating them!

Well the recipe didn’t lie! They were mighty tasty! Guess a little butter and milk makes everything better! And not once did I miss my carb-loaded oatmeal!

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

1 teaspoon butter

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon milk

Salt and pepper

Heat skillet over medium-low heat. Melt teaspoon of butter. Break the eggs directly into the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, continually stir the eggs, scraping the bottom of the pan. When the eggs are almost done but still slightly on the wet side, add the tablespoon of milk. Continue to stir the eggs until the milk is absorbed. Turn off the heat and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Pumpkin Pancakes

And it continues! Another pumpkin recipe!!

Obviously I have an obsession with pumpkin, but you may not know that I am equally obsessed with pancakes! I pretty much lived off of pancakes and cream-of-wheat a few years ago when I was living with a couple of girlfriends. Made grocery shopping pretty darn easy! But then this thing called marriage happened and I was forced to expand my cooking a little. Figured Zach wouldn’t have really appreciate a piping hot plate of pancakes being placed in front of every night for dinner. But I do still manage to sneak in the good ‘ol “breakfast for dinner” meals a couple times a month! And thankfully he eats them without saying a peep!

Last fall I stumbled upon a pumpkin pancake recipe and immediately thought I had died and gone to heaven! Quit possibly the best idea ever! I went straight to the kitchen fried up a pumpkin pancake, slathered it with butter, a little sprinkle of sugar on top, and dove right in! But stopped after one bite. They were pretty much tasteless. So I added a little more cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar! Easy solution, right? Fried up another pancake and had the same results. A flour-tasting patty on plate. The blandest pancakes I’d ever had. At that point I gave up and dumped the whole mixture down the drain! Such a disappointment!

But there was no way I could let such a wonderful combination be wasted. I was determined to find a good recipe this fall. Luckily it happened the first time around! I turned to one of my favorite blogs Annie’s Eats and used her recipe as a base! With just a few minor changes, they were just to my liking! Full of spice!

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash of ground cloves

1 cup milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tablespoons melted butter

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir with a fork to combine.  Mix together the milk, pumpkin puree, egg and butter in a liquid measuring cup.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together just until combined.

Heat a greased skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Once the skillet is hot, add a 1/3 cup of batter to the pan.  Let cook until bubbles begin to form on the top surface.  Carefully flip with a spatula and cook the second side until golden brown. Repeat with the rest of the batter until it has all been cooked, regreasing the pan as needed.  Serve with cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, and/or whipped cream.

Apple Doughnut Holes

Despite the temperature being close to ninety today, I couldn’t refrain from staying with the “fall” theme. Pumpkin and apple will definitely be the shining stars for the next couple of months! Thanks to the extremely addictive pinterest, I have found over 20 “fall” recipes to try!

These little doughnut holes were bursting with flavor. I was a little apprehensive about them at first since the only spice was nutmeg. I thought there were going to end up dry and bland. But the nutmeg paired with the cinnamon and sugar coating was just the right amount! And then the crunch of apple! Quit frankly, they were perfect! And fairly healthy as well, being that they were baked instead of fried!

Don’t be fooled. I definitely had more than three of these little guys. At least six, possibly eight, if not more! I just couldn’t stop my right hand from reaching forward and grabbing another!

Oven Baked Apple Doughnut Holes

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 1/2 cups bite sized pieces of apple, peeled and cored

to coat:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, baking powder, and nutmeg. Using a fork or pasty blender, cut in to the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and milk. Fold in the chopped apples. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir until mixture is well combined. Place a spoonful of batter into each mold of a buttered mini muffin pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the doughnuts are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Gently remove doughnuts from the molds and lightly brush each doughnut with melted butter. Coat with cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately with a ice cold glass of milk or warm cup of coffee!

Pumpkin Scones

Up until yesterday, I have had only scone in my life. A  flavorless “blueberry” scone. That was more like a dry, flour tasting triangle. I remember choking it down and thinking never will I ever pick a scone over a muffin again. Since then I have read through numerous scone recipes online of fun flavor combinations. Contemplated about giving them a second chance while staring at them in coffee shops. But my mind always reverted back to that horrible experience.

Yesterday I was absolutely dieing to make something pumpkin. It is now past Labor Day, which means “fall baking” has officially begun. I browsed through numerous pumpkin recipes online before stumbling upon these pumpkin scones.

Should I take the risk? Everyone raved about them in the review section. They were topped with icing, which had to makes everything taste better. I had all of the ingredients on hand. And after all, they were pumpkin. I have never been disappointed with anyone pumpkin. And that statement still holds true! These pumpkin scones were out of this world. Soft and full of pumpkin and spice flavor. And topped with a little bit of sweetness! They now have me on a scone craze. I can’t wait to make more!

Pumpkin Scones

2 cups flour

7 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

8 tablespoons cold butter

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons milk

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat oven to 425. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Cut in butter with a pastry knife until mixture is crumbly. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, and milk. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and form into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface into a 9 inch by 3 inch rectangle. Divide into three sections and then cut each section into two triangles. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on rack.

In a small bowl, mix together all icing ingredients. When scones are cooled, drizzle with icing.

Zucchini Quiche

During the summer months, my garden is my absolute pride and joy! I run out to check on it first thing after waking up in the morning.  And then drag Zach out to it first thing when he gets home so he can see our progress!

Last summer was our first garden and was pretty much an experiment. We didn’t know what kind of luck we would have with all of the deer and rabbits. And so we stuck to the basics. Only beans, peppers, carrots, and onions. We were able to ward off the deer and rabbits and ended up with a mighty fine crop! So this year we decided to expand a little and added cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and lettuce. But unfortunately the rabbits got the best of us. About the only thing that has produced for us so far is the cucumbers. Somebody must have told those pesty rabbits that cucumbers are my least favorite vegetable.

I think I was most devastated about not having any zucchini or beans this year. I had so many plans for those two veggies. Recipes bookmarked left and right that I was dieing to try. Thank goodness for farmers markets

This zucchini quiche was the first one on the list! It is a recipe from Zach’s aunt who is one heck of a good cook!

One thing about zucchini is that it doesn’t have a ton of flavor. But it is adds the perfect amount of crunch and substance to the dish. The onion and garlic salt definitely carry the flavor. And then there is the crescent roll crust that takes it all home!

Zucchini Quiche

1 tube crescent rolls

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

4 cups sliced zucchini

1/4 cup butter

bacon bits (optional)**

3 eggs

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

pepper

garlic salt

Press the crescent rolls into a greased pie pan. Saute zucchini and onion in the butter. Pour into the pie pan. Beat the eggs and pour over the zucchini. Cover with shredded cheeses. Sprinkle the top with pepper and garlic salt.

**I sprinkled the bacon bits on Zach’s half of the quiche so I could keep my half meat free. But the bacon bits can be added to the eggs so they are incorporated into the entire dish.

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

I eat oatmeal nearly every day. If I have the day off from work, I eat it for breakfast. If I am working that day, then I eat it for lunch or supper. It is just so, so easy to grab a packet and throw it in the microwave. My go to flavor is usually maple brown sugar. About the only flavor that actually tastes as good as it smells!

With all of my blog searching or some may call it stalking, I have seen several posts and recipes for baked oatmeal. All of them with different flavor combinations. And of course for my first attempt at baked oatmeal I chose the one with peanut butter! But I am now dying to try the pumpkin pie baked oatmeal.

This truly looked, smelt, and tasted like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie. It was fluffy around the outside and gooey in the middle! Definitely have a glass of milk handy when you eat this. Trust me, you will need it. The site where I found this recipe also recommends serving with warmed milk poured over the top. You could also top with sliced bananas, chocolate chips, maple syrup, or yogurt. Once again the possibilities are endless! Love versatile dishes!

One giant peanut butter oatmeal cookie!!

The oh so gooey middle!! Holy yum!

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 8×8 inch pan or 1 quart casserole. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread into the pan and bake for 25 minutes or until outer edges are golden brown.