Cinnamon Roll Bites

Ingredients:
2- 7.5 oz. refrigerator biscuits. Just use the basic buttermilk ones
3 T melted butter
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. light brown sugar
Frosting:
2 T softened cream cheese
1 T softened butter
1 T vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 T milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and spray an 8' baking dish. In a medium size bowl, combine the cinnamon and brown sugar. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces and toss pieces in sugar mixture. Spread coated biscuit pieces in the baking dish. Pour melted butter evenly over biscuits. Bake 20-23 minutes. While biscuits are cooking, mix the frosting. Spread frosting over warm biscuits. This is the perfect size for our family of five.

Spiced Apple Pancakes

This has become our favorite pancake recipe. It does take a little more time but it is easily halved or doubled. Don't be scared of the whole wheat flour in these, it adds so much to the flavor. One batch will make enough pancakes for our family of 5 with a couple left over. 

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 TBS baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
6 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1 TBS butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 medium apple seeded and cut into chunks

Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, salt, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
In a blender, mix the milk, egg, butter, vanilla and apple until apple is no longer in chunks, about 15 seconds.
Pour wet mixture into the dry and mix lightly with wooden spoon until dry ingredients are no longer wet. Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes while your griddle or skillet heats to 335. Serve with buttermilk syrup

Recipe adapted from Vitamix

Healthier Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

I know it's not really the season for pumpkin anymore but I made muffins with this recipe and froze them for a quick morning breakfast for Keith and we've really liked them. I'm calling it healthier because I pulled one of the top rated pumpkin bread recipes on allrecipes.com and substituted several ingredients.

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup water
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 Tbsp. nutmeg
1/2 Tbsp. allspice
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease pans. In a large bowl combine pumpkin, oil, applesauce, water, eggs, and sugar. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake for 1 hour for bread or about 25-30 minutes for muffins until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool before removing from pans.

This recipe made a loaf of bread, 12 regular sized muffins and 12 mini muffins.

Cream Cheese Frosting

I used this frosting for the pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and I use it for everything else too!

-3 oz of cream cheese (softened)
-1/4 c. butter (softened)
-1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
-1/2 t. vanilla
-1/8 t. salt

- Whip cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Whip until desired consistency (I whip mine in the kitchen aid for about 5 min)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Original Recipe

I didn't use pumpkin pie spice...because I didn' have any, and I didn't want them too pumpkin-y.

 Ingredients
1/4 c. warm water
1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast (at room temp)
1/3 c. whole or 2% milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 c. solid-pack pumpkin puree
1 tbsp. butter, melted
3 1/4 c. flour
 1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4. c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

 Filling:
1/3 c. (1 stick) butter
 2/3 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2-3 tbsp. solid-pack pumpkin puree or pumpkin butter (optional)

 Frosting: (I used the cream cheese frosting recipe I posted)
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. whole or 2% milk
 2-3 c. powdered sugar

 DIRECTIONS: 1. Stir yeast into water in a large bowl. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before stirring to combine (it should get thicker and begin to bubble). Stir in the milk, egg, pumpkin, butter, 1 1/4 c. flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Beat vigorously with paddle attachment for 2 minutes. 2. Attach dough hook to mixer. Slowly add the rest of the flour, a little at a time, until the dough is stiff enough to knead. 3. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough into a greased bowl (olive oil is fine), turn the dough to coat the entire ball. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, approximately 1 hour. If the dough is has not doubled by then, allow it to rise for an additional half hour. 4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling by combining the sugars, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Set aside. 5. Transfer the risen dough to a floured surface and roll into a 16"x 12" rectangle. Spread butter and pumpkin over dough. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Roll into log and cut into 15 slices using a sharp knife or dental floss. Place slices into a 9x13 or two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes. 6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown (don't worry if the filling rises and bubbles, it will go down once the rolls have been removed from the oven). 7. While rolls are baking, prepare frosting by beating the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, salt and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Add the powdered sugar one half cup at a time. If the mixture becomes too thick, slowly add milk one half tablespoon at a time. 8. Remove rolls from oven and let cool on wire rack. Frost 5-10 minutes after removal. Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour and bakedbree | Makes approximately 12-16 rolls

Grandma Grant's Banana Nut Bread/Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
2 eggs
3 bananas, sliced (2 cups)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:
Grease muffin tins or 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" metal loaf pan
Cream sugar with butter. Mix in eggs, bananas, flour, pecans, soda, salt. Pour into prepared pan.
Place in cold oven. For bread cook at 300 for 1/2 hours until center comes clean with toothpick. For muffins, bake 325 for about 30 minutes
Cool bread in pan 5 min. on wire rack. Remove from pan and cool.

Puffed French Toast

This recipe is SO good. I made the french toast sticks. To die for.


Puffed French Toast
print recipe text only

2 eggs
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
12 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally

In a large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4″ of vegetable oil (not olive oil) over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it’s just right.


Working quickly, take each 1/2 slice of bread and soak it both sides in the milk/egg/flour mixture. If you leave it in too long, it will get soggy, but you want to make sure enough of the egg mixture has soaked into the bread. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice, crispy crust has formed on each side (probably 3-5 minutes per side; you really need to babysit them and make sure they’re cooking correctly) and then remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. While cooking remaining French toast, keep cooked pieces warm in an oven set to the lowest temperature it will go.

When ready to serve, roll each piece in cinnamon sugar.


If you’re feeling extra naughty, go ahead and drizzle a little maple syrup, buttermilk syrup, strawberry syrup or scoop some honey butter on there. You can email me later and tell me how bad you feel about yourself, but I guarantee that it’ll be worth it!


Golden and crispy on the outside with a sugary crunch, and heavenly soft in the middle.


Slice the bread into strips for great french toast dippers. Kiddos love these- or talk about killer party food! You could pile them high on a platter and then serve next to ramekins filled with different dipping sauces. Ie: Maple syrup, Buttermilk Syrup, Strawberry Sauce, etc.

Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbs white sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy.

Beat in rest of ingredients until smooth. Cook until gloden brown.

*( I actually mixed it all in the blender. I beat the eggs first then added the rest ingredients and it turned out great!) Top with fruit and whipped cream and enjoy!

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

I was hesitant to make these because I've never met a whole wheat pancake I like but this recipe is so yummy! Probably because the flour is half and half but we really couldn't tell they had wheat in them they were so light and fluffy.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
From Our Best Bites

3/4 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour
3 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C low-fat buttermilk *
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbs canola oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
Cooking Spray or butter for pan

*As a substitute for 1 C buttermilk, place 1 Tbs lemon juice (or vinegar but I prefer lemon juice) in a 1 C measuring cup and then fill the remainder with milk. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 C buttermilk, so do the same thing with 1/2 Tbs lemon juice and remaining 1/2 C milk.

Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until moistened and combined.

Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet to medium heat. Coat pan with non-stick spray or a little butter and then pour on pancake batter. Use about 1/4 C batter for large pancakes (5-6") and 2 T for kid-sized ones (2 /2-3"). Wait until bubbles form and edges are set and then flip.

Makes 12 large or 24 small pancakes.

Freezer Instructions: These pancakes freeze wonderfully. Just lay out pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet or other pan. Freeze until solid and then place in a zip-lock bag. To serve, just warm up in the microwave or toaster.

Buttercream Frosting for Cinnamon Rolls

Cream together:

1 pound powdered sugar
6 Tbsp. Softened butter
3-4 Tbsp. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

Mix 3 cups flour, 1 cup powdered milk, 1 cup instant potato flakes, 1 cup sugar and 2 tsp. salt.

Add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup melted butter, 3 1/2 cups warm water and mix.

Add 2 Tbsp. instant yeast. Add 6-8 cups flour until your dough pulls away form the bowl.

Knead.

Spread 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil on the counter and let the dough rest on it for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough in 2 and roll it into 18 by 15" rectangle. Brush 2 Tbsp. softened butter onto dough then sprinkle cinnamon, sugar, and brown sugar.

Cut with floss and let rolls rise 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

1/4 cup butter
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups blueberries

topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbs. flour
3 Tbs. butter

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9 in pan
Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and set aside
In a large bowl cream butter & sugar until light and fluffy Add egg & beat. Beat flour mixture alternating with the milk
Stir in blueberries and pour into pan

In a small bowl combine topping and sprinkle over topping
Bake for 40-45 min.

Grandma P's Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients for muffins:
1/2 cup margarine/butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup milk

Ingredients for sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
2 TBS. light corn syrup
2 TBS. butter

Directions: Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Combine dry ingredients and gently blend into creamed mixture. Stir in milk and spoon lightly into greased muffin tins.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

For sauce: Combine sugar and cinnamon then add all other ingredients. Cook until thickened. Serve over top of warm muffins.

Maple Syrup

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp. maple flavoring

Mix together and boil until sugar is dissolved

Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Syrup

1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 C Buttermilk
1/2 C butter
2 TBS Corn Syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla

Combine the first five ingredients and bring to a boil. Add vanilla