Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes

This weekend we celebrated my husband's 30th birthday!  He has had a hard time with this idea of getting older, but I for one, think he is just getting better with age!  Let me take a minute to tell you about this husband I have.  He is pretty awesome.  He is one of the hardest workers I know, he is an amazing father and he. is. funny.  He has done so many things for our family in the nearly 9 years that we have been married, including but not limited to...giving me 2 perfect babies, working so hard in school and work that I can be a stay-at-home mom, buying and fixing up multiple houses, and making me laugh a whole lot.  But, one of the best things he has ever done for me personally, was win me a Kitchen Aid Mixer.  That was pretty dang awesome of him.  

Everyone raise your virtual hand if you read Our Best Bites!  If you have your hand down, I'm telling you right now that you should!  They not only share amazing recipes, but are laugh-out-loud funny!  I strongly recommend.  Anyhow, for those that don't know, about 6 months ago their second cook book was released.  To celebrate, they hosted a contest where you were to photograph yourself with a picture of the new book and send it in to them to be judged.  The best, most creative pictures would then be selected to receive prizes.  I told Jason about it, but also included that I had no ideas to make myself stand out.  He, however, has never backed down from a challenge, and viewed this as such.  So he came up with this...

And we won!!  Thanks to his creative mind and shameless desire to make people laugh, I now own a shiny red Kitchen Aid mixer (and there is this lovely picture floating out there in blog land for all the world to see)!  See, he really is the best!!  So happy birthday to him!

Okay, so I was getting to the recipe.  These Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes are one of our very favorite recipes out of that Our Best Bites Cookbook.  They are amazingly simply and incredibly delicious.  Last time I made these, I had to whip up a second batch immediately because we devoured them so quickly! Then those disappeared just as fast.  Jason loves them so much that he requested them for his birthday breakfast yesterday and we almost needed a third batch!  

Mini Puffed Oven Pancakes

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/8 teaspoon salt

2-3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Powdered sugar

Whipped cream, optional

Place a nonstick mini muffin pan in the oven and heat to 400 degrees.  Meanwhile, place the flour, milk, eggs and salt in a blender and blend until mixture is smooth.  Remove the pan from the oven, doing so very carefully and with an oven mit, as the pan with be very hot.  Quickly spray the wells with nonstick spray.  Fill the muffin wells 3/4 full with batter.

Bake for 12-18 minutes, until batter is puffed and slightly golden on top.  Remove the puffs and place on a plate or platter.  Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Drizzle with maple syrup or strawberry sauce and whipped cream, or eat them alone with your fingers!  All ways are equally delicious!

Strawberry Sauce

3 cups frozen strawberries

2 Tablespoon sugar

Place strawberries and sugar in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the strawberries release their juices, about 5 minutes.  Cook for 1-2 minutes longer, stirring continuously and smashing berries slightly with a fork.  Serve over pancake puffs.

Recipe Source:  Pancake Puffs from Our Best Bites.  Strawberry Sauce from The Unsophisticated Kitchen

I like to party here!

Coffee Cake Muffins

It is very unlike me to post two sweet treats right in a row.  However, these muffins were just so amazingly delicious, that I thought it would be quite unfair of me not to share them with you as soon as possible!  Coffee cake is one of my most favorite things in the whole world!  Anything topped with streusel is a-ok with me!  So when I found the recipe for these muffins that not only had a an amazingly delicious pecan streusel topping, but also had a ribbon of streusel tucked inside, I knew I had to make them immediately.  After my husband ate one of these this afternoon, he declared them the best muffin I have ever made!  I won't divulge to you how many of these things I ate because I would be embarrassed, but I am telling you that you should make them right away.  They were so so good.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Makes 12 muffins (I actually only got about 9 but I made mine pretty big)

Streusel topping:

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans

Muffins:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 beaten egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease twelve muffin cups or line with paper baking cups and set aside.  For topping, in a small bowl stir together the 3 tablespoons flour, brown sugar and the 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Cut in the 2 tablespoons butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the nuts, set topping aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the 1-1/2 cups flour, granulate sugar, baking powder, the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt.  Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  

In another bowl, combine egg and buttermilk.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy and pretty sticky).

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one-third full.  Top with half of the streusel topping, then the remaining batter and the remaining topping.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in muffin cups on wire rack for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups, serve warm.

Recipe Source:  Better Homes and Gardens

I'm linking this recipe up here!

Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole

 A great many years ago, I attended a slumber party at a friend's home.  For breakfast the next morning, her mom served us this foreign (to me) dish called a breakfast pizza.  I don't remember anything about it except the eggs...lots and lots of eggs.  It was saturated with them.  I thought it was horrible.  I left her house that morning feeling absolutely sick to my stomach and, in my young girl naivety, sure that I was allergic to eggs.  I wouldn't eat eggs for years and even as a young adult, got nauseous even thinking about that breakfast pizza.  Then I met my husband who was an egg lover, and though for awhile I still maintained that I was an egg hater, I found myself sneaking bites of his scrambled eggs topped with cheese every now and again.  It took me awhile, but I found that I actually do really enjoy scrambled eggs with melted cheese and I can also do a sunny-side-up egg on a breakfast sandwich.  However, I still can't do anything that I find to be too egg-y...even french toast is hard for me.  So when I went to a brunch at a friend's house and she was serving a breakfast casserole, as the main dish, I started feeling a bit squeamish thinking about eating it.  After one bite though, I was in love!  Strange thing, considering my supposed dislike of not only eggs, but sausage as well.  But it really was delicious and I even went back for seconds.  I had to have the recipe and this is it!  Thanks to the addition of the hash browns, there is enough substance and heartiness that it isn't egg-y at all...if you know what I mean.  I am totally sold on this recipe.  I even made it for dinner the other night and served it along side this orange juice fruit salad.  It was a perfect dinner (if you love breakfast for dinner..which I think is pretty much the best thing ever!)!

Sausage & Egg Breakfast Casserole

1 26 ounce bag shredded hash browns

1/2 cup butter

12 ounces grated cheese (I used a mix of cheddar and monterey jack)

1 small can diced green chiles

2 cups cooked sausage (I have used pork and turkey sausage before, both with good results)

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 inch pan.  In a large bowl, combine hash browns, grated cheese, diced chiles and cooked sausage.  Spread into greased pan.  Cut butter into small slices and place all over the top of the casserole.  In a medium size bowl, combine eggs, milk and salt.  Whisk until eggs are beaten.  Pour into the pan over the hash brown mixture.  Place in oven and bake for 1 hour.  Serve warm.

Recipe Source:  Adapted from a recipe contained in an old church recipe book sent to me by a friend

This recipe can be found linked up to these great link parties!

Orange Juice Fruit Salad

How did ya'll enjoy the Superbowl?!  Was it just me or did that game last F-O-R-E-V-E-R?!  If you say it was just me, I will believe you because its true that I am not the biggest fan of the old football games. That might be a tad bit of an understatement actually.  My husband, however LOVES football!  So even though I don't adore the Super Bowl , I do adore good food, and there was plenty of that to be had over here at our house.  It was a smorgasbord of unhealthy, yet deliciously satisfying treats, both savory and sweet!  Though I loved every bit of it today, there might be a bit of regret tomorrow!  In which case, I should whip of a big bowl of this beautiful, healthy, and tasty fruit salad.  And you should too...you know, if you are feeling a little guilty over your football-party binging as well.  And if you aren't feeling guilty (either because you have much much more self control than I do when faced with the likes of pizza, caramel popcorn, and cake, or because you just don't care), you should still make a bowl of this beautiful and tasty fruit salad...because its good, really good.  I have served this both as a breakfast dish and as a side dish at dinner, and it works well either way.  You can't go wrong with a good bowl of fruit salad, and this is just kicked up a notch with the addition of a sweet orange juice reduction...I love it and I think you just might too!

Orange Juice Fruit Salad

*So the fruit in this is very adaptable.  I have used pears in place of the green apple, nectarines in place of the peaches, strawberries in place of the blueberries, bananas in place of the oranges...you get the idea.  Use whatever you feel like or whatever you might have on hand.  Just make sure they will go together...obviously watermelon doesn't pair well with bananas...in my humble opinion.  But to each his own!!:)

2 medium red apples, cubed

1 medium green apple, cubed

2 medium peaches, cubed

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup sugar

2 medium navel oranges, peeled, sectioned and chopped

2 cups of fresh blueberries

Place the cubed apples, peaches and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Cover with water and set aside.  In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice and sugar.  Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup.  Drain apple mixture.  Add to the apples and peaches, the oranges, blueberries, and orange juice mixture.  Toss salad to coat with orange juice reduction.  Serve at room temperature or cold.

Recipe Source:  Taste of Home

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Buttermilk Banana Bread {The Best Recipe}

Several months ago I took dinner over to to a friend's family after she had a baby.  I had some bananas and buttermilk that really needed to be used up, and I had remembered seeing the recipe on my favorite food blog before.  So I threw a loaf together and packed it up and sent it to her.  It was a risky move, as I had never used this recipe before, and I thought it might be a tad on the tacky side to send a loaf with some nibbles taken out of it.  Several days later, this friend told me that in 15 years, she had never let a bit of banana touch her lips, but that she had eaten nearly the entire loaf by herself, and would only allow her husband small bites every now and then.  I was over joyed that I hadn't sent her a disgusting dessert!  So today when I had some bananas that were nearing the end of their days, I instantly thought of this recipe.  Let me tell you friends, if there is one banana bread recipe that you need for the rest of your days, it is this one!  It is utterly moist and flavorful and perfect.  I could easily have consumed one of those loaves all by myself!
Did you notice the half eaten loaf in the back?  My little 5 year old came in from school and really wanted some.  I told him he had to wait a few minutes so that I could take some pictures, but he was not handling the banana bread photo session very well.  In fact, his exact words were "Mom, everyone already knows how to make banana bread!  I don't care about your photography!"  So I gave in and cut him a bit.  Then the boy who wants to eat nothing more than Kit-Kat bars and spaghetti, inhaled 2 whole slices...not a crumb left on his plate!  That is a true testament of how great this stuff is!

Buttermilk Banana Bread

1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of mashed bananas (I didn't measure my bananas out, but just used 3 medium ones)
4 Tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Grease and flour 1 large loaf pan.  I used 2 smaller pans and they worked great.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla until the batter is well mixed.  Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  Mix until well combined. Divide batter into greased pan(s) and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Recipe Source:  Mel's Kitchen Cafe