Tag Archives: breakfast recipes

Easy Cheese Danish

My mother’s favorite breakfast treat is cheese danish. She can brutal in her commentary on cheese danish from various bakeries, so it was with some trepidation that I tried this recipe one Sunday morning, especially since this recipe uses frozen puff pastry. I used a little Greek yogurt in my cheese mixture as a tribute to my mother’s greek heritage. Maybe it was the greek yogurt that won my mother over, but she loved her cheese danish and that it the ultimate testament! Wow your family this weekend with this easy recipe!

From by the bay, wishing you easy food memories!

Maryann

Easy Cheese Danish

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1⁄4 cup confectioner’s sugar, plus additional for dusting
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
2 tablespoons greek yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 (2 sheet) box frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg (beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
Place the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl use a fork and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolks, yogurt, vanilla, salt, and orange zest and mix until just combined.
Unfold 1 sheet of puff pastry on the parchment sheet roll it slightly with a floured rolling pin until it’s a 10 by 10-inch square. Cut the sheet into quarters with a sharp knife. Try not to cut the parchment sheet. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling into the middle of each of the 4 squares. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash and fold 2 opposite corners to the center, brushing and overlapping the corners of each pastry so they firmly stick together. Then fold the other two corners in, until you have a square again. Brush the top of the pastries with egg wash. Place the pastries on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and refrigerate the filled Danish for 15 minutes.
Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking, until puffed and brown. Dust the danish with confectioner’s sugar. Serve warm.

Whole Wheat Molasses Yogurt Bread

Here is a perfect quick bread, it’s easy to make in addition to being delicious and healthy. I’m always in search of easy weekend breakfasts with ingredients I always have handy in my pantry. I also enjoy it since it’s not too sweet. Serve with salted butter, cream cheese or just plain. It’s delicious with your morning coffee or afternoon tea! You’ll want to keep this recipe handy!

Whole Wheat Molasses Yogurt Bread

Recipe as published in Food 52 Baking – adapted from Mark Bittman’s “How To Cook Everything Vegetarian”

Makes 1 Loaf

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour, measured as described above (I also like a mix of white whole wheat and rye, but use whatever you have on hand)
1/2 cup medium- or coarse-grind cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 2/3 cups whole milk yogurt, or 1 1/2 cups whole milk + 2 tablespoons white or apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup molasses
Optional: 1 to 1 1/2 cups cranberries, chopped fruit, or nuts ( used dried figs and toasted walnuts)
Butter, for greasing the pan

Directions

Preheat your oven to 325° F. If you’re using milk, mix it with the vinegar and set it aside. Mix together your dry ingredients in a wide bowl (rather than one with straight sides; this makes it easier to mix). Whisk your yogurt (or vinegary milk) with your molasses. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 batches, stirring in round, sweeping motions. Make sure to incorporate the flour at the bottom of the bowl. Mix until just combined. The dough should fizz, subtly, like a science experiment. It will be thick! If you’re adding in fruit, etc: Fold it in when there are still a few small pockets of flour. Slice a pat of butter into either a loaf pan or a 7-inch cast iron skillet. Put it into the oven until the butter melts. Remove, then swirl the butter around to grease the pan. Transfer batter into pan, without mixing it any further. (Be gentle!) Bake for one hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted. Touch the top of the bread: it should give a little bit, and feel supple, but it should still resist your touch and not feel like there’s goo beneath there. Very important: Let the bread cool before you slice it. Yes, I’m serious.

Summer Fruit Refrigerator Jam

I love this time of year and the abundance of fresh fruit. Sometimes though you might not finish all the fruit. If you are like me, you might have few lonely raspberries left in the fridge, you know the one’s that have been squished or a few over ripe peaches sitting on the counter. Give these fruits new life by making this delicious and easy refrigerator jam. This jam has only three ingredients. It’s perfect to eat with toast, on top of ice cream or try making these little yogurt parfaits for breakfast, the recipe follows below. Starting looking for some fruit now and make yourself some jam!

From by the bay, wishing you jammy food memories!

Maryann

Summer Fruit Refrigerator Jam

Ingredients

2 cups fruit, such as peeled, pitted stone fruit chopped and or berries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

Toss fruit and sugar in a non reactive medium sauce pan and let sit an hour. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It’s ready when it’s thicken and runs off the spoon in big drops. Place in clean jam jar , cover and let rest to room temperature. Leave in the refrigerator until ready to use up to two months.

Yogurt Parfait with Jam and Pine Nuts

1 serving

Ingredients

2 tablespoons summer fruit refrigerator jam

6 ounces low fat greek yogurt

1 teaspoon toasted pine nuts

Directions

In a small jar layer the jam, yogurt and top with pine nuts. Serve immediately or cover overnight and serve for breakfast the next day.

Favorite Homemade Granola Recipe!

I love waking up on a beautiful sunny weekend morning and making breakfast. One of my favorite breakfasts is homemade granola. It’s easy, delicious and fills the house with the most wonderful aroma of brown sugar and cinnamon. I add just a touch of chili powder for subtle heat. Homemade granola is perfect for a morning parfait of yogurt, fresh fruit or berries topped with some granola. I like to use a good quality of greek low fat plain yogurt. If you prefer a flavored yogurt try mixing it with plain yogurt – 50/50. It makes for a less sweet base for the sweet fruit and granola.

From by the bay, wishing you sunny granola mornings!

Maryann

Maple, Pecan and Cranberry Granola

2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons maple syrup
½ cup dark brown sugar

½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries

optional: pinch chili powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except the dried cranberries into a mixing bowl, combine well. On a parchment lined sheet spread ingredients in 1 layer. Bake for 40 minutes until brown stirring every ten minutes until mixture is browned. Remove from oven and cool granola. Once cooled add dried cranberries and mix. Keep in airtight container. It should keep about one week.

Scrambled Eggs Breakfast Panini

We all work hard during the week! Most days I’m up and out quickly, so when I have a quiet morning without work or errands to run, it’s a real luxury. Nothing is better than relaxing with a long quiet cup of coffee, reading the newspaper ( on my ipad of course) and enjoying breakfast. This breakfast panini is perfect for one of these mornings. My favorite type of recipe is one with small effort and big enjoyment. If you don’t have a panini press you can use a a skillet and cover. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and cook your sandwich for a couple minutes on each side, pressing it down with the skillet cover making full contact with the hot pan.

From by the bay, wishing you relaxing food memories!

Maryann

Breakfast Panini

Makes two panini

Ingredients

4 slices bread such as ciabatta

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

4 slices prosciutto

1/4 cup shredded asiago cheese

3 eggs, scrambled moist

Directions

Heat panini press according to manufacturer’s directions. Spread butter evenly on one side of each bread slice. Layer prosciutto, cheese and scrambled eggs evenly on unbuttered side of two bread slices. Cover with remaining bread, buttered side up. Grill sandwiches in panini press, on medium-high heat, until bread is toasted and cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Sweet Potato Breakfast Slider

Here is the perfect breakfast treat, a small breakfast slider. These tasty little sweet potato biscuits filled with crispy bacon and fried egg would be the perfect start to any morning. It works as a quick grab and go breakfast or a relaxing start to the day with the morning paper. You’ll love these little sliders……maybe try for New Year morning!

From by the bay, wishing you sweet food memories!

Maryann

Sweet Potato Breakfast Slider

For each slider use one sweet potato biscuit sliced in half ( recipe follows), one fried egg done to your liking, one slice of crisp bacon cut in half. Assemble egg and bacon inside the biscuit . I use the biscuit cutter to make the fried egg the same size as the biscuit.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Makes approximately 12 biscuits

Source: Food Network Magazine, Thanksgiving Issue Volume 4 Number 9 11/2011

3/4 c. cooked mashed sweet potato (about 1 large sweet potato)
1/3 – 1/2 c. whole milk, as needed
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut in to small bits

Preheat oven to 425. Grease baking sheet with butter, oil, or cooking spray. In a small bowl whisk together the sweet potato and milk (less up front, and more if needed). Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter (or a fork if you don’t have a pastry cutter) until the mixture is a crumbly texture or resemble coarse meal. Add the sweet potato mixture and gently fold to combine. Add the remaining milk a little at a time until all of the flour is moistened. The amount of milk you will need will depend on the moisture of the sweet potato. Sprinkle a small handful of flour on a work surface. Turn the dough out onto the surface and knead lightly 2-3 times with the palm of your hand until the dough comes together. Pat the dough out into a 1/2-in thick round. Using a 2 1/2-in round biscuit cutter, cut the dough in to biscuits, Gently reroll the scraps and cut out more biscuits. Place on to prepared baking sheet and bake 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown and firm to the touch. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

It’s my first Sunday home after an inspiring vacation in Nashville, Tennessee! The food was so delicious and clearly many people are living the farm to table lifestyle, especially with the close proximity of farms to downtown Nashville. My weekend back home started with the trip to my local farm, where I found the ingredients to make a delicious late summer fruit compote of blackberries, raspberries and dark plums. This autumnal colored compote is a sweet complement to use at breakfast on top of french toast , pancakes or waffles, or at dinner on top of a pork chop or even for dessert on top of ice cream or a slice of pound cake. I decided today to recreate my Nashville experience with bourbon soaked french toast along with the mixed berry and plum compote. It’s a perfect brunch dish for s slow, relaxing Sunday in New York.

From by the bay, wishing you bourbon soaked food memories!

Maryann

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/4 cup bourbon ( up to 1/3 cup depending on preference)

4 whole eggs

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder

8 slices bread, ciabatta or brioche ( thick slices)

2-4 tablespoons unsalted butter as needed

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Set aside baking sheet with rack to hold french toast warm in oven. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the milk, sugar, bourbon, vanilla, eggs and cinnamon. Pour into a shallow dish, I use a glass pie plate. Dip the bread into the batter and let sit a minute or two to soak. Add butter to a hot griddle or non stick saute pan. Once the butter is melted place the battered bread on the pan and cook until the bread becomes golden brown. Flip the bread slice over and cook until the other side also becomes golden brown. Place toast on rack in warmed oven and continue to make your french toast using butter as needed. Once done place onto a platter and shift confectionary sugar on top. Serve with butter and maple syrup or fruit compote.

Mixed Berry and Plum Compote

Ingredients

1 cup mixed berries such as raspberries and blackberries

1 cup chopped plum, pitted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

Directions

Place all the ingredients into a non reactive medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or when the plums are softened. Serve at room temperature. Can to stored in the refrigerator for about a week.

Dried Cherry, Coconut and Chinese Five Spice Granola

I love lazy winter weekend mornings, when you just want to sit in with a cup of coffee and read the newspaper over breakfast. Home made granola is a terrific breakfast for such mornings. It fills the house with a welcoming aroma and you can make enough granola to last through the week. It’s perfect for topping your yogurt and or fruit. This crunchy granola is easy to make and delicious to eat……it takes about 5 minutes to get the ingredients mixed together and into the oven. There is nothing like a little effort with big results!

From by the bay, wishing you sweet and crunchy food memories!

Maryann

Dried Cherry, Coconut and Chinese Five Spice Granola

3 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 1/2 cups pepita (pumpkin) seeds, unsalted
1/2 cup blanched sliced almonds
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chinese five spice powder
4 tablespoons orange blossom honey
½ cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except the dried fruit into a mixing bowl, combine well. On a parchment lined sheet spread ingredients in 1 layer. Bake for 50 minutes until brown stirring every ten minutes until mixture is browned. Remove from oven and cool granola. Once cooled add dried cherries and coconut. Mix well. Keep in airtight container. It should keep about one week.

Holiday Start : Cranberry Soda Bread with Cranberry Jam

This is the perfect Christmas breakfast. Let me specify that I do not use the word perfect lightly!!!! This breakfast is inspired by two of my favorite cooks, Nigella Lawson and Ina Garten, so how perfect is that! Last Christmas as I settled in with some cookbooks on a snowy night, I reread one of my favorite books from Nigella Lawson, “Feast – Food To Celebrate”. Tucked away in the book was a recipe within a recipe for cranberry jam and I just had to make it! Now, I always had a fear of making jam of any kind. My first reason was a fear of using pectin My second reason was another fear, the fear of canning. I would worry that I wouldn’t seal the jars properly. Nigella’s cranberry jam is so easy that my fears just faded away and the results were delicious! Cranberries are filled naturally with pectin, so making this jam is almost as easy as boiling water. I decided to just refrigerate the jam the way I do cranberry sauce and that decision saved the whole stress about sealing the jars properly. I made this jam last Christmas morning and it disappeared as quickly as Santa did up the chimney. I did have the perfect accompaniment to the jam that morning Irish Soda Bread without the raisins. I use Ina Garten’s recipe because , why fool around with perfection. The only change I made is one that I always do , I switch the raisins to dried cranberries. This switch is a result of the fact that my sister Nancy hates raisins and she loves dried cranberries. I have to tell you that once I switched, there was no going back. You need to try this bread. Nothing beats the combination of warm cranberry soda bread topped with cranberry jam. It screams Christmas, holidays and that something really special is going on. Enjoy – tis’ the season!

From by the bay, wishing you very cranberry food memories!

Maryann

Cranberry Soda Bread
Adapted from Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread from “Barefoot Contessa At Home” published in 2006.

Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.

Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cranberry Jam

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Cranberry Jam from “Feast Food To Celebrate Life ” published in 2004

Ingredients
12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

Directions
Put a film of water in the bottom of a large saucepan and add the cranberries and sugar. Stir patiently over a low heat to dissolve the sugar; this will take a little while. Turn up the heat and boil the pan rapidly until setting point is reached, about 7 minutes. (Alternatively it will have reached a jam-like consistency.)
Pour the jam into a sterilized jar (s) and seal immediately or keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Makes approximately 4 cups.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries and Lime Butter

Pancakes make people happy! That was the motto of the Royal Canadian Pancake House, which existed for an all too brief time in Manhattan in the 1990’s. But their clever motto still rings true today. I would be hard pressed to find someone in my world who doesn’t love pancakes. My sister Nancy is on top of the “Pancakes make people happy” list! Now she would never refuse a pancake but she certainly is selective in picking a favorite. These buttermilk pancakes won Nancy’s approval, they are light and fluffy from the buttermilk. I added some lime butter to compliment the fresh strawberries. You’ll want to try this recipe this weekend! Enjoy!

From by the bay, wishing you the fluffiest food memories!

Maryann

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries and Lime Butter
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
11/2cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
Fresh strawberries, sliced and confectionery sugar

Directions
In a medium bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix. To this add the buttermilk and egg yolks and combine- do not over mix. Batter will be a little lumpy. In another bowl add egg whites. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until it is in soft peaks. Fold egg whites with rubber spatula into the batter. Set aside for 20 minutes. Heat a griddle pan and spread 1/4 cup of batter for each cake, Cook two minutes on the first side and flip and cook another minute. Place on baking sheet and keep warm in oven until all cakes are made and ready to serve. Serve with sliced strawberries, confectionery sugar and lime butter.

Lime Butter

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

Directions
To butter add lime juice and zest and combine well. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.

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Tag Archives: breakfast recipes

Easy Cheese Danish

Whole Wheat Molasses Yogurt Bread

Summer Fruit Refrigerator Jam

Favorite Homemade Granola Recipe!

Scrambled Eggs Breakfast Panini

Sweet Potato Breakfast Slider

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

Dried Cherry, Coconut and Chinese Five Spice Granola

Holiday Start : Cranberry Soda Bread with Cranberry Jam

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries and Lime Butter