Baked Cream Cheese French Toast

Baked Cream Cheese French Toast

12 pieces cubed white bread

12 eggs

1-2 pkg. cream cheese

2 C. milk

½ C. maple syrup 

1 t cinnamon

Mix eggs, milk, and syrup.  Layer ½ of bread cubes in a 

19 X 13 pan.  Put cream cheese on and then layer again with the rest of bread.  Pour liquid over.  

Cover tightly and refrigerate over night.

Bake @ 350, 30 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered.

Serve with fresh fruit (peaches, strawberries or blueberries) whipped cream and Buttermilk Syrup!

*Laurie gave me this recipe and it included blueberries in the french toast and was served with a homemade blueberry syrup.  I loved it, but none of the kids did, so it has evolved to this.  I still get my fruit, it's just on top.  Compromises.  But this is such a delicious make ahead breakfast!  Usually comes out for General Conference.

Ebelskivers

 Ebelskivers

3 eggs seperated
2 T sugar
1/2 t salt
2 C buttermilk
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder

Beat egg yolks until light and lemon colored.  Add sugar, salt and buttermilk; mix well.  Sift together flour, soda and baking powder; add to egg mixture.   Beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold into batter.  Place a small amount of shortening (or butter or pam) in each cup of ebelskiver pan, and fill 2/3 full with batter. Cook over medium low to medium heat until bubbly and slightly cooked on edges.  Turn carefully with a toothpick and finish baking on other side. If desired, ebelskivers can be filled...place small spoonful of batter in cup (1/3 full) a dollop of filling and top with another small spoonful of batter (to 2/3 full). Cooking time varies, approximately 2 minutes per side, depending on heat and amount of batter.  Filling ideas: biscoff, lemon curd, jams, nutella, apple slice, honey, mascarpone and anything!

**Above is a lemon & mascarpone, biscoff and raspberry & mascarpone! Yum!
**I took a cooking class from a neighborhood high school girl (Becca Briggs - my sister Kristi's best friend) when I was 8 or 9.  Ebelskivers was one of our favorite days! We had so much fun putting all kinds of things in them....blueberry jelly belly's were my favorite, but now I'd pick lemon curd and mascarpone! Thanks to Becca for initiating my love of the Ebelskiver!
**Hooray for Sunday after church breakfasts! When I make these for my family, I give them each a pan at a time, so they pick what they want in their 7 and that way everyone gets warm fresh ones! I usually have 2 pans going at once...it's a little tricky. And they are still amazing without filling...that is Chloe's choice!

Liege Belgian Waffles

Liege Belgian Waffles

2 T sugar
3/4 C lukewarm milk
3 eggs
1 C melted butter
2 t vanilla
3 C flour
1 T instant yeast
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C Belgian Pearl Sugar (Lars' Own - Pirate O's in Sandy)

Whisk sugar, milk, eggs, butter and vanilla until blended.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, yeast and salt.  Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Mix until soft dough forms.  Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80-95 degrees) until doubled in volume.  About 30-45 minutes.  Preheat waffle iron. Gently mix in pearled sugar.  Place approximately a 1/3 C of dough on preheated waffle iron and cook until crisp, approximately 2 minutes.  Be careful taking waffles out of iron, the sugar gets scalding hot and can easily burn the fingers.  Delicious alone, but divine served with fruit and cream or biscoff spread.

**Thanks to a trip to a farmer's market and the "waffle love" truck, I was introduced to the Liege waffle.  The pearled sugar makes these waffles, truly outstanding!
**May try to reduce the amount of butter the next time I make them.  The butter was running all over the waffle iron!
**Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Crepes

Crepes (makes approx 15)

3 C milk
2 C flour
4 eggs
2 T oil
1/2 t salt

In a bowl or blender, combine milk, flour, eggs oil and salt. Whisk or blend until well mixed.  Heat a lightly greased skillet. Pour in a scant (little less) 1/4 C of batter into pan and tilt pan in a circle so batter spreads to a larger circle.  Cook for 1 minute or until batter seems almost dry, flip over using spatula or fingers. Cook an additional 30 seconds. Place crepe on a plate and repeat putting parchment between each crepe.Cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator.  Then next morning, fill the crepes with choice of filling (either nutella or biscoff spread) and place the whole tray of crepes in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.  Top with fruit and cream or whatever else you like! We topped these with bananas and whipped cream!

**I love doing the crepes this way so that we can all eat at once, otherwise I'm at the table by myself and everyone is gone. Plus, I swear they stay warmer longer.
**One other trick, I warm up the filling and put it in a ziplock or a plastic piping bag, cut the corner with scissors and drizzle the filling over half of the crepe, then fold in half and half again.  It's way easier than spreading with a knife!

Whole Grain Waffles

Whole Grain Waffles

2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 C skim milk
1/4 C applesauce
1/4 C pumpkin (canned)
1 t vanilla
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 C flax seed meal
1/4 C wheat germ
1/4 C flour
4 t baking powder
1 T sugar
1/4 t salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.  Beat in the flours, flax seed, wheat germ, baking powder, sugar and salt until batter is smooth.  Preheat a belgian waffle iron (probably would work in a normal waffle iron, I just don't have one), and coat with cooking spray.  Pour batter into waffle iron and cook until crisp and golden.

**I made these right along side THESE, and both Hans and I liked these better! So healthy, yet so light and crispy.  I also made a simple fruit syrup with some blueberries, raspberries, water and a couple teaspoons of sugar, boiling until thick. Oh and I added a little lemon curd...mmmm. Delightful!
**Original recipe was from allrecipes.com, but I changed it.
**Estimated 250 calories, 6 g fat, 8g fiber and 12 g protein per waffle! Fat content is high, but that's from the awesome flax seed, wheat germ and eggs! NO added oil, that's why you can add the whipped cream!

Ranchero Sauce

Ranchero Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chopped white onion

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional...I went more 1/16 t so the kids wouldn't complain)

1 T minced jalepeno  seeded if you want less heat (or I used roasted N.M. chilies)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 cup chopped tomatoes and their juices

3/4 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons cilantro

To make the Ranchero Sauce:  In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and bell peppers, cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.  Add the cumin, salt, cayenne, jalapeno, and garlic, cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.  Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the heat, stir in cilantro and puree in a blender until smooth.  Adjust the seasonings to taste. 

**Recipe adapted from Emeril Lagasse

**Breanna turned me onto this liquid gold a few weeks ago and I can't get enough....seriously!  I made 2 gallons of it this weekend with my garden tomatoes and now it's just waiting for me in my freezer.

**It was obviously created for Huevos Rancheros, but we have used it with so much more....omelets, burritos, eat it with chips like salsa.... and I can't wait to try it on enchiladas.  Oh the goodness.  Thanks Breanna!  Check out the Huevos link, her picture is stunning!
**Huevos Rancheros is one of our favorite after church breakfasts!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

 Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

CINNAMON FILLING:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 Tablespoons butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).  In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie, or disposable piping bag and set aside. You don't want this to remain super-liquidy. It's best if it becomes a consistency similar to toothpaste.  In a medium, microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract; set aside.  Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Grease. Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside. Top with cream cheese glaze.

Tips:

-Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don't flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

-If your baggie of filling begins to get too thick, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again. On that same note, it shouldn't be too runny. The consistency of soft toothpaste is perfect. If it's melty and runny, it will tend to run all over your pancakes. Once you micro it, let it sit on the counter at room temp for a while until it thickens slightly.

**I loved this picture of them on the griddle!
**These were so great for a fun Sunday lunch! And I sneaked in the healthy pancake (School Pancake Mix) and they loved them.  I doubt I'll ever try the pancake recipe if it's this easy to get away with sneaking in the healthy!
** I piped my cream cheese glaze on too, but I'm sure it could be done a little prettier.

Roll Ups

 Roll Ups

2 eggs
1 C milk
1 C Bisquick

Serve with cinnamon, sugar and fresh lemon. No other way. :)

Blend in a blender. Cook in a large skillet over medium heat, by melting a little butter (1/4 tsp) and pouring batter to make about a 4-5 inch circle. Tilt and swirl the pan to spread batter, like you are making a crepe. When mostly cooked through, ease spatula under the roll up (the middle usually has a little spot that sticks) and flip. Re-invert on to a plate.  Butter generously, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and squeeze some lemon over the sugar.  Roll up and eat.

**This recipe gives me grief. Sometimes they stick, somettimes they don't. So sometimes I add a little oil (a tablespoon to a double batch of batter) and sometimes I add a little more Bisquick to thicken the roll up a bit. But no matter what I do, the first one is always a disaster.

**This is what I ate almost every Saturday growing up.  I can see my Mom with a dish towel on her shoulder, swirling the pan, and all of us waiting impatiently because they couldn't come fast enough.  My kids love them and every once in a while they try to add syrup and I shudder. Long live the Roll Up!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 C flour             
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder         
1 t baking soda
1 t salt

Mix, then add:
2 eggs                 
2 C buttermilk (very old – 1 month past due date )

Serve with any syrup, but Buttermilk Syrup is our favorite.

**I'm not sure why the recipe says that about the due date, Hans says he can tell a difference.  I put so much syrup on mine, I can't tell one bit. But when you have buttermilk in the fridge that is about to go past the due date, you don't have to worry.  And no one has ever been sick! :)

German Pancakes

German Pancakes

2 C milk
2 C flour
8 eggs
1/4 C butter

Put butter in 9 x 13 pan and turn oven on to 425.  While butter is melting, put milk, flour and eggs in a blender and blend until smooth, scrapping down the sides.  When butter is melted and bubbly, pour batter into hot pan and return to oven.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden and puffed up.  Serve with powdered sugar and lemon.  Or...nutella, syrup, jam, cinnamon sugar....whatever tickles your fancy.

**If you bring the eggs to room temperature and warm the milk, the batter "puffs" better.

**I know these aren't "German" but that's what we call them.  My mom's original recipe only had 3 eggs, 3/4 C flour and 3/4 C milk.  They came out really puffy, but then shrank to thin little pieces, my family could eat 4 pans of that recipe.  So I just increased everything and they still love them.  I also love putting in fresh fruit like peaches or berries, but the pancake doesn't puff as well.

Waffles by Hans

Waffles by Hans

1 3/4 C flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 C milk
1/2 C vegetable oil
2 egg whites

In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl beat egg yolks slightly.  Beat in milk and oil. Add egg yolk mixture to flour mixture all at once.  Stir just until combined but slightly lumpy.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold beaten egg whites into flour and egg yolk mixture.  leaving a few fluffs of eff white.  Do not overmix. Makes approx 5 waffles.

Bake according to waffle maker instructions.

Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Syrup ( serves 4-6)

1/2 C butter
1/2 C buttermilk
1 C sugar
1T karo syrup
1/8 t salt
Mix in large(syrup expands when baking soda is added) saucepan and boil for 3-5 min.
Turn off heat and  add:
1T vanilla
1/4 t baking soda
 Stir until foam decreases and serve on pancakes.
**To make more of a caramel flavored version, keep the heat on med while stirring to decrease foam.  Stir constantly to avoid any burning and take off heat as soon as it is thickened and a little darker in color. About 5 more minutes.