Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping

French Toast with an Apple Cinnamon Caramel Topping!
Yummy!

I don't have a recipe for this as my husband made dinner for me once again. From my bird's eye view on the couch, I believe it was made like this:

Cook the diced apples in a pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little salt and sweat out the apples a little. Add some sugar and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. Cook until softened and the sugar is caramelized a little. Place on top of french toast (made traditionally) and drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce.

TWD: Apple Cheddar Scones

I can't believe its July already and its another Tuesday. My summer has been a whirlwind of activity and it sure isn't going to calm down in the near future. I was super excited about this week's recipe. I have never made scones before but I love them so I was excited to try them on my own. The best things about TWD are learning new things, new techniques, new flavors, meeting new people and stepping outside of my comfort zone.

These scones came together very easily. Though the dough is super sticky, they are worth all the mess. The cornmeal was a little odd to me but it added another layer of texture that really worked great.



Since I had never made scones before I wanted to try a variety of flavors. Trying to stay within budget and use what was in my pantry I settled on milk chocolate chips and dried cherries. I loved the apple cheddar combination; sweet and salty is one of my favorites. I opted for fresh granny smith apples instead of dried apples and it worked perfectly. The chocolate scone and the cherry scone were also great but missing a little something. Next time I'll try the combo together or add another flavor to tie them in. The chocolate was a tiny bit dry. The cherry scone was also the same way but I didn't put enough cherries in either.



I will definitely be making these again. Thank you to Karina from The Floured Apron for this week's selection. And don't forget to visit the blogroll at Tuesdays with Dorie for more fabulous scones.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I realize this post is late but I'm posting it anyway. I had some leftover bananas and a new king size muffin pan and needed to find a recipe for the Master Baker challenge, hosted by my friend Nikki. I found a recipe for Banana Crumb muffins at Katie's Kitchen that sounded perfect.

I was so excited to use my new pan that I miss read the ingredients and directions. They turned out fabulous (or fierce, as some might say!). I did not end up with a crumb topping, much to my dismay. I have a few more frozen bananas so I plan to try making them again the right way. The original recipe can be found here.

Basically, when I read " add sugar" in the instructions, I took that to mean both kind of "sugars" listed. So, I add the brown sugar to the batter instead of waiting to use it in the crumb topping. Of course, I realized my mistake a moment too late (ie. after it was mixed in!). For fear that they would to sweet enough with the extra sugar, I didn't bother to add the crumb topping.

In the end the muffins were amazing and not too sweet at all. I sent 2 muffins to the host of Master Baker (I was already sending her a package but yes, I was also trying to score bonus points!). My husband and split one when they came out of the oven and then he proceeded to eat the other 3! I guess I really do have to make more.



Banana Crumb Muffins
(adapted from: allrecipes.com)
Photos: my kitchen!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat, oven to 375. Lightly grease12 muffin cups (or 6 king sized muffin cups), or line with muffin papers.

In large bowl, mix together first 4 ingredients.

In another bowl, beat together remaining ingredients.

Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. Over mixing will produce tougher muffins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 or until toothpick comes out clean. My king size muffins took about 32 minutes.

Serve warm with butter!

Snickerdoole Muffins

Jake and I celebrated New Year's Day in style! Sleeping in and then cooking brunch together. We had so much fun. I came across this recipe for Snickerdoodle muffins and we had to try them. The were so good! Light and fluffy and yummy!

Recipe from Peabody
Photo from my kitchen

Banana Muffins

I was in the mood for something different for breakfast this past weekend and I still had some bananas in the freezer so I decided to make banana muffins! I pulled out my brand new Betty Crocker cookbook that we received as a wedding present and put it to good use. It was bought for me to use, right, not sit on a shelf and look pretty!

Ingredients
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup bananas, mashed (about 2 medium bananas)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 400. Grease bottoms only of 12 medium muffins cups with shortening, spray with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

In large bowl, beat milk, oil, egg and bananas with fork or wire whisk until well mixed. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. If baked in greased pan, let stand for 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to wire rack; if baked in paper baking cups, immediately remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm if desired.

Makes 12 muffins
Recipe from Betty Crocker Cookbook
Photo from my kitchen

Note: I added a few chocolate chips to half the muffins before putting them in the oven, just for something extra!

Husband Rating: A-, he said they were really good, but a little dense.

Wife Rating: A, I agree they were a little dense and my only thought was that the bananas were too cold because I had just taken them from the freezer. I only defrosted them in the microwave enough to peel them, maybe they should have been room temperature. They tasted great, warm with butter, yum!

Breakfast Pizza

So, our menu changed this week. We decided to have pizza last night instead of Thursday! I'm excited because it came out amazing! Jake was coming home late from somewhere so I wanted to have dinner all ready for him. Well, I hate rolling out dough. That is always his job. So, I rolled up my sleeves, threw some flour on the counter and armed with my rolling pin I began to tackle the dough. I was very proud of how it come out. (next time I'll tackle making my own dough!)

Ingredients
dough (store-bought or homemade)
7-8 eggs
milk
bacon, cooked (about 7-8 pieces, crumbled)
mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions
Beat eggs with milk and scramble them up in a pan, season as desired (we use black pepper and onion salt). Spread dough with a layer of butter. Layer on scrambled eggs. At this point, I like to season with oregano. Layer on crumbled up bacon. Sprinkle on the cheese. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes.




Husband Rating: A+, "yummy!"
Wife Rating: A+, pizza is always a favorite and so is breakfast so I love the combination!

Sunday Brunch

Tonight's dinner is a favorite in my husband's family. It is what we have for breakfast on Christmas morning and though considered a breakfast menu item it can be enjoyed at any time of day!

Sunday Brunch (Casserole)
stale bread, cut into big chunky croutons (we usually make homemade croutons)
eggs
milk
shredded cheese
bacon, sausage or ham; crumbled (optional)

Beat together the eggs and milk, season to taste (we use salt, pepper and garlic). Mix in the cheese and meat. Pour over croutons already layered in casserole dish. Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes or until the eggs are completely cooked and not running.