I love a good breakfast bake. It’s so adaptable. You can put just about everything in them. This is my base recipe for a perfectly filling and delicious morning meal. I’ve made it so many times I can practically do it in my sleep. Which is good, since I’m always throwing it together first thing in the morning. Yawn.
It was National Waffle Day last week and so (of course) I had to make waffles. This recipe has been tweaked a ton from the original to produce light fluffy waffles that are a little crisp on the outside and perfectly warm and soft on the inside. It’s my favorite waffle recipe and is requested often by my munchkins.
Monkey bread is the devil. I cannot resist it. I especially enjoy a new spin on it, like adding some kind of new flavor to the delicious combo of cinnamon sugar and buttery goodness. I can more readily call it breakfast if it includes fruit which makes this blueberry filled bread perfect for supporting my delusion. So, breakfast it is. That’s when I served it to my family anyway. But, I also ate it for lunch and dessert so it’s really all-encompassing food. The oatmeal practically makes it a health food…so I figured it was ok to have it for more than one meal.
I started thinking about blueberries after my 6th friend posted on Facebook that they were blueberry picking. No joke. Who knew that all the cool kids go blueberry picking in August? Actually, come to think of it, a few weeks ago when my sister watched my munchkins, she took them out to harvest some blueberries from a local farm. I totally should have though of doing that! Man! When did I become such an un-fun mom? Gotta work on that! It seems to me that with all this berry picking going on, folks might appreciate a recipe (or seven) to use up some of that abundant fruit. So here’s the great big Bakerlady’s Best of Blueberries post!
My kids discovered a new joke this week. I’ve heard it about 100 times in the past few days. It goes like this:
Just in case you didn’t catch that, here’s the dialogue.
Madison: What is Captain Hook’s favorite kind of breakfast?
Donovan: I dunno.
Madison: Peter Pan-cakes!
<insert hilarious laughter here>
I’m always on the lookout for ways to eat dessert for breakfast. These delightful little muffins have perfectly light flavor and a melt in your mouth oh-my-goodness-this-is-so-amazing texture that’s to die for. What would you call a dessert that you pass off as breakfast? I mean, besides the obvious…pie. Bressert? Deskfast?
My nieces came over unexpectedly today. My gluten/dairy free sweet lovelies. I had just pulled a Blueberries & Cream Pie out of the oven…which, (of course) they cannot eat. It’s absolutely unacceptable for my sweet girls to come over to Auntie’s house and not get a treat. But what to make?
I remembered seeing this recipe on Pinterest ages ago and thought I remembered it being gluten free. A couple quick keystrokes and I the recipe pulled up. A speedy scan of the confirmed I had all the ingredients and was gluten free as I remembered. Bonus, it got rid of some bananas that were rapidly heading towards a ripeness only enticing to fruit flies.
Do not be tempted to sub out the sugar for applesauce (as someone started suggesting on Pinterest to do). Applesauce will make these bars turn into a mushy mess. You can however sub out the milk for almond milk (or rice milk) to make these gluten & dairy free.
These are sweet enough to pass off on unsuspecting children as dessert and nutritious enough to eat yourself for breakfast. Top with extra peanut butter if desired. Or, if you are feeling wild and crazy, (and are a fan of chocolate hazelnut in general) give it a little dollup of Nutella. Hello delicious! It should be noted that Nutella is not a low calorie or “health” food. Shocking, I know. Enjoy!
Print Recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
adapted from Gingerbread Bagels
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I rounded my measuring cup just a bit)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 medium mashed bananas
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°
Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.
Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.
Add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.
Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch metal baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool Completely. Cut into squares and enjoy!
I’ve been making french toast the same way for years. Eggs, a little milk, some sugar and vanilla. Beat, dunk, pan fry. Nothing to write home about, but good enough. Until I made THIS recipe I didn’t know just how delicious french toast could taste.
I guess I never realized what good french toast was supposed to be like. Now I know. Here’s what it should NOT be.
1. Dry in the middle
2. Soggy in the middle
3. Bland
4. In need of a gallon of syrup to make it delicious
The technique for this recipe is the key. Yeah, the custardy egg dip is delicious. I’ll bet you can guess the secret ingredient just by the recipe name. Ya’ know, cause you guys are super-genius type people. Honey makes the eggs sweet and thick. Yum. First, we soak our bread well then set on a cookie rack to settle in the eggs for just a minute.
Then, melt up some butter. Mmmmmm. Butter.
Grill up two pieces at a time in the butter.
Set all the finished pieces on the cookie rack inside a cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes.
The fry then bake gives you a nice golden crust on the outside and perfectly consistent cooked sweet eggy bread throughout. Gloriously good.
This golden toast doesn’t even really need syrup. My kids (ages 3 and 5) gobbled down several pieces each with only some strawberries on top. Not one complaint.
It’s that fantastic. Rich, moist and delicious.
Honeyed French Toast
from Alton Brown
1 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
4 tablespoons butter
In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.
Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.
I’m always trying to find new ways to use up bananas. Somehow, there are always a few growing freckles on my counter. Banana bread or delicious Monkey Bites are usually what I bake up, but a breakfast cookie intrigued me. These “cookies” have the texture of baked oatmeal, but since they’re dropped and baked on cookie sheets they get the cookie moniker.
These are dairy free, egg free and using gluten-free oats makes these babies a perfect snack for all you GF folks. They are soft and filled with flavor. Perfect for on-the-go breakfast or stashing in your bag for an afternoon snack. You could use blueberries or dried cranberries instead if you’re not a fan of raisins.
Here’s where the obvious food preferences of my children come into sharp focus. I called these cookies when offering them to my daughter, which made her decide not to even try them at first (she is her father’s non-sweet tooth child). Later in the day she consented to have one (and loved it) after I explained that it was oatmeal and not really a cookie cookie.
My son heard the word cookie from across the house and came bounding down the steps and lightning speed to gobble down three for breakfast. I was celebrated as the nicest, greatest mom ever because I said yes when he asked for more. The look on his face was priceless. Like he was trying to figure out what bizzaro world he’d woken up to where mom was doling out cookies for breakfast. It was great. Make up a batch and be a hero in your house too! Enjoy!
Breakfast cookies
makes 19 cookies
3 mashed bananas (ripe)
1/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Drop spoonfuls onto parchment lined cookie sheets, flatten slightly and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
