Tag: breakfast

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Blackberry Crêpes

It’s blackberry season here in the Pacific Northwest! Hooray! When you return from berry picking with purple fingers and a few scratches, and you’re looking for a quick recipe that makes the most of your toil, this is just the ticket.

Ingredients

Crêpes

  • 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
  • 1-1/2 cups Whole Milk
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt

Filling

  • 4 cups Fresh Blackberries
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 2 tbsp. Corn Starch
  • 2 tbsp. Butter

 

  • Powdered Sugar to garnish

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to warming temperature (170 – 180 degrees) and insert a heat-proof plate.
  2. Lightly oil a skillet with rounded sides* and place over medium heat.
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, blend together flour, milk, eggs, oil, and salt until completely combined and smooth.
  4. Pour a little less than 1/4 cup of batter into hot, oiled skillet.
  5. Immediately lift skillet and tilt in a circular motion to distribute batter as widely, thinly, and evenly as possible across the bottom of the pan.
  6. Return the skillet to the heat.
  7. When the top of the batter is no longer shiny throughout, carefully insert a thin spatula underneath and flip.
  8. Cook for an additional minute, and then turn crêpe out onto warm plate in the oven.
  9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 until all the batter is cooked. (Makes 8 – 10, depending upon the size of your pan and how skillful you are at swirling the batter.)
  10. Rinse blackberries, and place in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.
  11. In a small bowl, combine sugar and corn starch.
  12. Add corn starch mixture to blackberries and stir to combine.
  13. Cook and stir frequently until blackberry mixture thickens.
  14. Remove blackberry mixture from heat and add butter in small clumps.
  15. Stir until butter is melted and well combined.
  16. Assemble crêpes by spooning a generous scoop of blackberry filling in a long strip onto each crêpe, and folding the sides of the crêpe over the filling.
  17. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

*A 10-inch or larger, light-weight, non-stick pan works great for this. Unless you fancy a sprained wrist, you definitely don’t want to use a heavy cast-iron skillet as you will be lifting the pan and swirling the batter to distribute it evenly.

Sneaky Trick: Wiping the warming skillet with a paper towel to evenly distribute the oil and avoid pooling will help the crêpes brown evenly. If you can hear the batter sizzle when you put it in the pan, you’re using too much oil.

 

A little encouragement…

If you’ve never made crêpes before, I guarantee you that the first one you attempt will be a disappointment. It will be too thick, or stick to the pan, or break, have chunky batter, or even singe. Be brave and keep trying! After a few attempts, you will get the hang of it. And, crêpes are so versatile that you will be making them for every meal before you know it.

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Pain au Chocolat

Yes, laminated dough is a “pain” in the ass. (You see what I did there?) However, there’s no comparison between a fresh, warm croissant made from scratch, and a gluey, pale crescent-roll made from a tube of mass-produced faux daux. I’ve made this a fair bit easier by starting the dough in the bread machine, but nonetheless you’ll want to plan on washing your apron after this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Warm Water
  • 1/2 cup Warm Milk
  • 2-1/2 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 tbsp. Cooking Oil
  • 4 cups Bread Flour
  • 2-1/2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
  • 18 oz. Cold Unsalted Butter
  • 1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1 Large Egg, beaten
  • 2 tbsp. Powdered Sugar (optional)

Directions

  1. Add water, milk, sugar, salt, oil, flour, and yeast to the pan of your bread machine in the order listed, and select the Dough cycle.
  2. While dough is doing it’s thing (completely independent of your efforts thanks to your bread machine) place two 6 oz. pieces of butter between two large sheets of parchment paper each. Then beat the living hell out of them, and roll into two 12×18 sheets, keeping them between the sheets of parchment. Refrigerate while you wait for your dough.
  3. When dough cycle has completed, remove dough from pan, and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Split into two equal pieces.
  4. Roll the first piece of dough into a 18×18 rectangle.
  5. Remove flattened butter from the refrigerator and set it on top of the dough, even with the left-hand side.
  6. Fold the right-hand (unbuttered) third of the dough, up over the butter.
  7. Then fold then left-hand (buttered) side over the top. (The result should be a 6×12 rectangle with five layers: dough, butter, dough, butter, dough.)
  8. Roll gently and evenly, maintaining the rectangular shape, just enough to help the dough layers adhere to the butter layers.
  9. Repeat steps 4 – 8 with the second piece of dough.
  10. Wrap both dough and butter rectangles in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least four hours.
  11. While dough is chilling, place two 3 oz. pieces of butter between two large sheets of parchment paper each, and beat and roll each out into a very thin 12×18 sheet. Refrigerate until dough is finished chilling.
  12. Remove one packet of dough from the refrigerator.
  13. Remove from plastic wrap and roll out into an 18×18 rectangle. (This may take a little extra muscle, as the dough may be harder after chilling.)
  14. Repeat steps five through ten.
  15. When ready to assemble and bake, place a large cake tray on the bottom rack of your oven, and move the rack you are going to bake on into the top half of the oven.
  16. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
  17. Preheat oven to 360 degrees.
  18. Remove one packet of dough from the refrigerator.
  19. Place on a floured surface and roll out into a 12×18 rectangle.
  20. Slice in half lengthwise, and in thirds by width, creating 6 six-inch squares.
  21. Place a small handful of chocolate chips (about 20 – 24) on one end of each square of dough, and roll the dough up over the chips at a slight angle, resulting in vaguely triangular points at each end.
  22. Place shaped dough onto prepared baking sheets.
  23. Repeat steps 18 – 22 with the second packet of dough. (Alternatively, you can keep the second packet of dough refrigerated for another day, and bake a fresh batch tomorrow.)
  24. Brush dough with beaten egg.
  25. As you put the dough in the oven, throw 4 – 5 ice cubes into the cake tray at the bottom of the oven to create a nice burst of steam.
  26. Bake pastry in preheated oven for 12 – 16 minutes until golden brown, turning sheets once mid-way through the bake.
  27. Remove pastry from oven and transfer to a baking rack to cool.
  28. If you have a sweet tooth, wait until pastry has completely cooled, and dust with powdered sugar. (Optional)
  29. Brew up some strong coffee and enjoy!

Sneaky Trick: Do you find that removing the butter sheets from the parchment is more frustration than you can handle? You can spread softened butter on the dough instead. Just increase your chilling time to at least eight hours each time you chill the dough.

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Apple Cinnamon Muffins

These muffins are a nice change of pace from more common muffin flavors, and they are so pretty you’re sure to get lots of compliments. They’re great with Sunday brunch or as a midnight snack!

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Sweet Apple (e.g. Fuji, Gala, Red Delicious)
  • 1-1/4 cup Whole Milk
  • 3 tbsp. Melted Butter or Margarine
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2 cup White Sugar
  • 1 tbsp.  Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake tin with paper cupcake liners. (This should make about 12 in a standard-sized cupcake tin.)
  3. Combine milk, melted butter or margarine, vanilla extract, and egg in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, baking powder,salt, and 1 tsp. cinnamon.
  5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix very gently with a spoon until just combined. (Do NOT over-mix.) Your batter should be very lumpy.
  6. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tin until each is about 2/3 full.
  7. Quarter unpeeled apple and remove core. Slice each quarter into roughly triangular wedges about 1/8-inch thick. (If you want to get technical, they’re really more like isosceles trapezoids, not triangles. But, I digress.)
  8. Insert 3-4 apple slices parallel to one another, peel-side-up, into the batter of each muffin.
  9. Combine brown sugar, 2 tbsp. white sugar, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and mix until well combined.
  10. Spoon sugar mixture over the top of each muffin, evenly distributing between each one.
  11. Wipe any drips or sugar from around the edges of the tin with a damp paper towel.
  12. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until cooked through.
  13. Remove muffins from tin and transfer to a cooling rack.
  14. Serve while still warm.
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Qulassic Quiche

Quiche is not just for brunch any more! This traditional recipe can be customized with different meats, vegetables, cheeses, and more, to make it perfect for any meal. This version is very similar to a classic Quiche Lorraine, but with the addition of cheese to please the American palate. It can be served hot or cold, and is delicious any time of day.

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2 cup Shortening
  • 2 – 3 tbsp. Ice Cold Water
  • 5 Slices of Bacon
  • 1/2 cup Chopped Sweet Onion
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1 cup Whipping Cream
  • 1 cup Whole Milk
  • 1 tbsp. All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tbsp. Dried Parsley
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1 cup Mild Cheddar Cheese

 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine flour and salt.
  3. Cut in shortening and blend together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  4. Slowly add water and mix until dough forms a ball.
  5. Remove dough from bowl and place on a heavily floured surface.
  6. Use a floured rolling pin to roll dough out into a circle, large enough to accommodate your pie tin with ample overlap, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
  7. Roll dough up onto rolling pin, and then roll it out over the pie tin, folding edges over to create a rim.
  8. Flute edges or press with the tines of the fork if desired.
  9. Use a fork to make several small holes on the bottom and sides of the crust.
  10. Bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until partially cooked but not browned.
  11. Now, work fast! You have a lot to do in the next 10 – 12 minutes.
  12. While crust is baking, cut bacon into small pieces, and cook in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.
  13. Remove bacon pieces from skillet, reserving fat, and set aside.
  14. Cook chopped onion in bacon fat until translucent.
  15. Remove onion from skillet, draining excess fat and set aside.
  16. Beat together eggs, whipping cream, milk, and flour in a large bowl or stand mixer.
  17. Add parsley, salt and pepper, and half the cheese, and mix until well combined.
  18. When pastry shell is finished baking, remove from oven and reduce heat to 325 degrees. (If bubbles have formed in the pastry, gently press them down with the back of a large spoon.)
  19. Pour egg mixture into hot pastry shell, being careful not to let any of the egg go over the edge of the crust. (If it does you may just as well pour it out of the crust, and into a skillet to make scrambled eggs.)
  20. Sprinkle cooked bacon and onions over egg mixture, distributing evenly.
  21. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of egg mixture.
  22. Bake in preheated oven for 45 – 50 minutes until firm and just beginning to brown.
  23. Remove from oven and cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.
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Cinnamon Swirl Bread

This sweet, buttery bread makes the finest French toast, the sweetest snack, and the tastiest toast. This recipe is designed for the bread machine, which I consider one of the ten greatest inventions of all time. You can customize it with raisins (if you like that sort of nonsense) or finely chopped nuts, by adding them when you sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on your dough. Go on, give it a swirl!

Ingredients

Bread

  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/4 cup Hot Water*
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 tbsp Butter or Margarine, softened
  • 1/3 cup White Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 3 cups Bread Flour
  • 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

*Hot tap water is just fine; no additional heating is needed. You just want to warm up the milk and egg a bit as the dough is mixing to give the yeast a fighting chance. 

Swirl

  • 4 tbsp Margarine or Butter
  • 1/3 cup White Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Ground Cinnamon

Directions

  1. Place all Bread ingredients in the pan of your bread machine in the order listed.
  2. Select the Dough cycle and press Start.
  3. Relax while you send an email to Panasonic, expressing your gratitude to them for inventing the home bread machine in 1986.
  4. When the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
  5. Knead briefly, and roll into a long rectangle approximately 1/2-inch thick, with the shorter side of the dough slightly more narrow than the longer side of your bread pan.
  6. To make the swirl, melt butter or margarine.
  7. Brush the rectangle of dough with butter or margarine until well coated. Reserve remaining melted butter or margarine.
  8. Mix together sugar and cinnamon.
  9. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture evenly over buttered dough.
  10. Roll the dough tightly, from the shorter side.
  11. Spray a bread pan with cooking spray.
  12. Place the rolled dough in the pan, with the seam on the bottom.
  13. Allow to rise in a warm, quiet place for 30-45 minutes, until doubled in size, and taller than the rim of the bread pan.
  14. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  15. Re-melt remaining butter or margarine if needed, and brush loaf with it.
  16. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
  17. Remove from the oven, and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool to room temperature before wrapping.
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Cinn-full Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls will add some rolls to your waistline! And you don’t have to use one of those ghastly spring-form tubes of yucky, fake dough. These are great with nuts or neutered (i.e. no nuts… heh). 

THE DOUGH

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Whole Milk
  • 2 tbsp. Water
  • 3 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. Salt
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1/4 cup Butter or Margarine, Softened
  • 3-1/3 cups Bread Flour
  • 2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

Directions

    1. Add all ingredients to bread machine pan in order listed.
    2. Select Dough cycle and press Start.

 

THE FILLING

Ingredients

  • 2 Full Sticks of Butter or Margarine, very softened
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup White Sugar
  • As much Cinnamon as you can handle (At least 2 tbsp.)
  • 1 cup Finely Chopped Walnuts or Pecans (Optional)
  1. Mix butter or margarine, brown sugar,white sugar, and cinnamon together into a thick, goopy* paste.
  2. Don’t mix in the nuts; those come later.

 

THE FROSTING

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. Vanilla
  • 1-1/2 – 3 tbsp. Whole Milk
  1. Mix all ingredients together into a thick, runny* paste.
  2. If frosting is too thick, add a bit more milk; if too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

*What’s the difference between “goopy” and “runny” you might ask? If you put a “goopy” paste in a bowl, it will hold it’s shape, whereas a “runny” paste will lie flat. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

 

THE ROLLS

  1. Spray two or three (depending on size) baking pans or cake pans with a LOT of cooking spray. This recipe makes about 14-16 rolls.
  2. When dough cycle has completed, turn out dough onto a floured surface.
  3. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.
  4. Smear entire surface with filling, as evenly as possible.
  5. Sprinkle nuts evenly over the filling. (Optional)
  6. Gently roll up the dough rectangle lengthwise, avoiding squeezing or pressing.
  7. With a long, sharp knife, cut the rolled dough into 1 to 1-1/2 inch sections of equal size.
  8. Arrange sections in baking pans, leaving at least 1 inch between each roll.
  9. Rise in an unheated oven for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.
  10. With pans still in the oven, turn oven on to 350 degrees, and bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown.
  11. Remove from oven and allow to cool for only about five minutes.
  12. Use a piping bag with a large, round tip to swirl icing all over the hot cinnamon rolls. The frosting will melt and run into every crack and crevice.

 

Sneaky Trick: If you’re having trouble getting your filling to spread, use a large, wet pastry brush (or a new, wet paint brush). The filling won’t stick to it as much as it will to a spoon or spatula, especially when it’s wet, and a tiny bit of extra moisture won’t hurt your dough and filling at all.

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REAL Blueberry Muffins

These aren’t cupcakes masquerading as muffins like you might get at the coffee drive-thru.  These are stick-to-your-ribs, real mother-f*cking muffins! The batter stands up strong to hold a LOT of delicious blueberries, and it works great with raspberries or blackberries, too. These muffins are lovely served with a little smear of butter or margarine.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Frozen Blueberries (or even more if you’re feeling brave!)
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 1 tbsp.  Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake tin with paper cupcake liners. (This should make about 16 in a standard-sized cupcake tin.)
  3. Put frozen blueberries in a colander and run warm water over them for about thirty seconds, just enough to soften them a bit.  Shake the colander to keep them from sticking together and set aside, allowing to drain.
  4. Combine milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and egg in a large bowl and combine well.
  5. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
  6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix very gently until just combined. (Do NOT use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer for this step.) Your batter should be very lumpy.
  7. Shake blueberries one more time to make sure they’re not sticking together and add to batter.  Mix until JUST distributed throughout batter, but no more. The secret to a great textured muffin is a light hand while mixing!
  8. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tin until each is about 2/3 full.
  9. Wipe any drips from around the edges of the tin with a damp paper towel. (You will thank me when it’s time to wash the tin!)
  10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-22 minutes until they begin to brown on the top. (If you’re using fresh berries, reduce the cooking time by about two minutes.)
  11. Remove from tin immediately and transfer to a cooling rack.
  12. Serve while still warm… or hot if you can’t wait!
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