Strawberry Breakfast Bruschetta

 
My wonderful Mommy & Me group has a monthly ladies only brunch.  We love spending time together with our little ones, but it's also hard to hold an uninterrupted conversation with a bunch of babies and toddlers running around.  That's why once a month we leave the kids at home with our hubbies and catch up over mimosas and delicious brunch treats.  In the summer months it's nice to make something that doesn't involve heating up the house.  That's where this breakfast bruschetta comes in.
 
Just like it's savory cousin, you start out with some toasted bread.  I sliced up a baguette and spread each piece with a thin layer of butter or coconut oil.  Sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on top and pop them in the toaster oven until they are as toasty as you like them.  Now you have adorable little cinnamon toasts, but we aren't finished yet.

Take your cinnamon toasts and schmear them with some ricotta.  I threw mine in my immersion blender to smooth it out a bit but you can totally skip that step.

Dice up some fresh strawberries.  I did this the night before and the natural sugars in the strawberries really came through.  If you don't plan ahead or your strawberries aren't as sweet, sprinkle them with a bit of sugar.  My original plan was to put some fresh mint in with the strawberries, but the mint at the store was pretty sad looking. It was delicious without it, but if you have a mint plant or your store has some decent looking mint, toss some in.  Spoon some of your diced strawberries onto each crostini.

Before serving, transfer your bruschetta onto your serving platter and drizzle with honey.   These Strawberry Breakfast Bruschetta were a great addition to our weekend brunch, but they are easy enough for a weekday.  The crunch of the crostini, the creamy ricotta, and the sweetness from the strawberries and honey combine to make a delicious and relatively healthy morning treat.

Overnight Sausage & Vegetable Strata

I know it's been quite a while since I last posted, but I'm back!  Things have been crazy busy around here and something had to give.  Hopefully you haven't forgotten about me in the meantime.  I recently hosted a potluck brunch for a bunch of my girlfriends and made this delicious Overnight Sausage & Vegetable Strata.  It was such a hit, that I had to share it with you all.

I love entertaining, but it can be hard to cook when my boys are awake.  That's why I love recipes that can be made, or at least prepped, in advance.  This strata is perfect for brunch for a crowd, but it would also make a delicious Mother's Day breakfast.  You completely assemble the strata the night before and then in the morning, just pop it in the oven.

My favorite omelette is one with cheddar, spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes with some sausage on the side.  I had planned to incorporate all of those flavors into this strata, but then I realized that I had forgotten to get the spinach at the store so I just used the others.  Evidently I was super distracted while I was at the store because I also bought the wrong sausage.  I wanted to get mild Italian sausage and I did, but I accidentally bought chicken Italian sausage.  This worked out perfectly so take my happy accident as an example and get whatever kind of sausage you like, spicy, mild, pork, chicken, as long as it's sausage it will be delicious!

Start out by browning your sausage.  Once it is browned, drain it if necessary and then set it aside.  Then cut up a loaf of bread into cubes, you can rip it too if you want it to be more rustic.  You want about seven or eight cups of cubed bread.  I used a french loaf this time but I've also made it with sourdough, both turned out beautifully.  It's better if your bread is a little bit stale, but if you forget to buy the bread a day or two in advance, don't worry about it.  Put half of the bread cubes into a 9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Next you are going to layer on half of your toppings.  For me that was shredded cheddar, chopped tomatoes, and chopped cremini mushrooms.  As I said, I had planned on adding some fresh spinach so feel free to add some of that too, or whatever veggies you like with your eggs.  Then repeat your layers.

In a bowl crack a bunch of eggs.  I happened to have extra-large eggs so I used 9, but if you have large eggs, use 10.  Pour in 3 cups of milk, I used skim, just use whatever you have.  Add in some dry mustard, salt, and pepper, and then whisk it all together.  Pour the egg mixture all over the bread.  If any cubes of bread are sticking up and dry, push them down a little so that they soak up some of the liquid.

Then cover it all and stick it in the fridge.  The next morning, take your strata out of the fridge while your oven is preheating.  Bake your strata at 325 for about an hour.  I'm sorry to say that my guests arrived and I forgot to take a picture of the strata when it came out of the oven, perfectly golden and smelling divine.  Luckily, this piece was leftover so I was able to snap a couple of pictures for you all.

Overnight Sausage & Vegetable Strata

• 1 lb. mild chicken Italian sausage
• 7-8 cups cubed bread
• 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped and deseeded
• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 9 extra-large or 10 large eggs
• 3 cups skim or low-fat milk
• 2 tsp. dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper

1. Brown the sausage in a skillet, breaking it up as it cooks.  Drain any fat and set aside.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Put half of the bread in the baking dish and sprinkle with half of the cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and tomatoes.  Repeat the layers with the remaining bread, cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
3. In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, milk, dried mustard, salt, and pepper.  Pour evenly over the ingredients in the baking dish.  Press down any bread that is sticking up and dry.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. The next morning, bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes or until golden brown.

I'm linking up with Cook It Craft It Share It, Crafty & Delicious, and Showcase Your Talent Thursday.

Spiced Zucchini Muffins

As a mom, I want my kids to eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables.  Jake has always been a great vegetable eater so I never thought I would be searching for ways to sneak in veggies, but then we had Luke.  After we starting feeding Luke solids he started having some serious GI issues that were impacting his growth.  We finally figured out what was causing them; his body couldn't absorb fructose.  He has now started to outgrow it, but we still have to limit the amount of fruits we give to Luke so I feel even more pressure (from myself) to get extra vegetables into him.

Getting him to eat food in general is a challenge, unless it is a bread product, so I find myself having to get creative to feed him a balanced diet.  Because of how much he loves bread in all of its iterations, I've been thinking about mixing vegetables in with muffins.  I like almost all vegetables, but zucchini is one of the few foods that I don't really like.  I will eat it, but it isn't something I generally choose.  That is probably why I've never had, let alone made, zucchini bread.  Luke inspired me to give it a try.

I decided to make zucchini muffins instead of zucchini bread so that I would have individual servings.  Since this was my first foray into baking with zucchini I wasn't sure where to start so I did a lot of searching.  So many of the recipes that I found had applesauce or banana in them and I wanted these muffins to be fruit free.  I finally found a recipe that was fruit free and decided to give it a try.

The recipe sounded great as is, but I couldn't resist making a few tweaks.  I've pretty much abandoned all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour.  I find it works just as well (at least it does for me) and makes me feel like I'm being a little bit healthier.  As I mentioned, I'm not zucchini's biggest fan so I decided to add in some pumpkin pie spice because it is DE-LI-CIOUS!  I also added in Greek yogurt to keep the muffins nice and moist.

Start out by preheating your oven to 400 and whisking together your dry ingredients: white whole wheat flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Make a well in the center.

In another bowl mix together some shredded zucchini, Greek yogurt (I used fat free), vegetable oil, honey, an egg, and a splash of milk (I used whole but I think whatever you have on hand is fine).

Once your wet ingredients are thoroughly combined, pour them into the well in the center of your dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into muffin tins sprayed with baking spray.  Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown, and then remove to a cooling rack.

I made these for Luke, but couldn't stop eating them myself.  The warm flavors from the pumpkin pie spice make these feel like comfort food.

Spiced Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from Kathie's 

• 1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/3 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 tbls. milk
• 2 tbls. vegetable oil
• 2 tbls. honey
• 1 egg

1.  Preheat oven to 400 and spray muffin tin with baking spray.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together dry ingredients, flour through salt, and make a well in the center.
3. In another bowl or large measuring cup, combine remaining ingredients.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.
5. Use an ice cream scoop to portion batter into muffin tins and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

I'm linking up with Create It Thursday, Cook It Craft It Share It, Crafty & Delicious, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, Cookin & Craftin, Creativity Unleashed, Pin Junkie, Thrifty Thursday, Friday Favorites, Best of the Weekend, Weekend Potluck, Best Recipes, Link Party Palooza, and Pinworthy Projects.

Fig & Cardamom Drop Scones

I love going out with the girls for afternoon tea.  It is such a girly outing and with a house full of boys, sometimes I need an extra dose of girly.  One of my favorite parts of the tea spread is the scones.  They are so delicious whether on their own or topped with lemon curd, cream, or jam.  If it's a scone, I'm in.  Since it isn't always easy to carve out time to go out without my boys, I decided to make some scones at home.  Most scone recipes need to be kneaded, and cut out.  I have to admit that I tend to avoid recipes that require being rolled out because it is more work and more cleaning.  That is why I love these drop scones.  No kneading required.  As the name suggests, you just use an ice cream scoop to drop the batter onto your cookie sheets and then pop them in the oven.

This recipe is really easy to customize too.  I love the way that cardamom and fig complement each other but you could easily swap the cardamom for some cinnamon and nutmeg or even change the fruit from figs to dried cranberries.  This combination is delicious though so I hope you will give it a try.

Start out by melting a little butter and then set it aside to cool a little bit.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and a healthy spoonful of cardamom.  Whisk it all together and then stir in some dried figs that have been chopped into bite-sized chunks.

These scones have buttermilk in them.  I love the way that adding buttermilk keeps baked goods moist, but if you are like me, you won't really use up a whole carton of buttermilk.  I highly recommend using this buttermilk powder.  It is so easy to use.  You just mix the powder in with your dry ingredients and then add water in with the wet ingredients.  You can get it at the grocery store or order it from amazon.

In a large measuring cup whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk (or water if you are using the powdered buttermilk), an egg, some honey, and a splash of vanilla.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir them together just until combined.

Use an ice cream scoop to drop the scones a couple of inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.  Sprinkle the tops with a little bit of sugar, I used demerara sugar because it is larger crystals and adds a delicious little crunch.

Then bake at 400 until the tops are golden brown, about 12 minutes.  These are delicious as is or with a drizzle of honey or some fig jam.  Tea time, breakfast time, or any time, bring on the scones.

Fig & Cardamom Drop Scones

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cardamom
• 3/4 cup chopped, dried figs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 4 tbls. buttermilk powder and 1 cup water)
• 3 1/2 tbls. butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 2 tbls. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• extra sugar for sprinkling on top (I used demerara but any sugar is fine)

1. Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.  (If you are using buttermilk powder, add it as well.)  Stir in figs.
3. In a large measuring cup, combine buttermilk (or water if using buttermilk powder), melted butter, egg, honey, and vanilla.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined.  Use an ice cream scoop to drop scones onto the baking sheet and then sprinkle the tops with sugar.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden. 

I'm linking up with Thrifty Thursday, Pin Junkie, Link Party Palooza, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Weekend Potluck, Best of the Weekend, Show Stopper Saturday, Bakerette, Mix It Up Monday, Inspiration Monday, Craftastic Monday, Busy Monday, Monday Funday, Lou Lou Girls, Tips & Tricks, Mad Skills, Create Link Inspire, Tasty Tuesday, Two Cup Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Made By Me, Whimsy Wednesday, Wake Up Wednesdays, Wednesday Whatsits, Wonderfully Creative Wednesday, Cook It Craft It Share It, Pin It Thursday, and Showcase Your Talent Thursday.
 

Overnight Caramel French Toast

I love breakfast foods!  Pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, waffles, coffee cake, I love it all.  We recently had some friends over for breakfast and I wanted to make something decadent and delicious.  Since I have a baby, I don't always have a lot of hands-on time to cook in the morning.  Enter the overnight breakfast casserole.  Overnight breakfast casseroles are a busy mom's dream come true.  I have made lots of different versions, some savory, some sweet, but this is one of my favorites!  When Josh got home from work, Jake rushed over and yelled "Dad, Mom made CHALLAH french toast with CARAMEL!!!!"  He was pretty excited and you will be too once you take a bite of this Overnight Caramel French Toast.

It comes together really quickly and then overnight the challah absorbs the delicious custard.  It bakes up all golden and when you have that thick caramel sauce oozing over the top you will be in breakfast heaven.  This would make a perfect Mother's Day breakfast!

Start out by melting a stick of unsalted butter with a cup of brown sugar and a little light corn syrup (it's not just for pecan pie).   

While that is melting, tear or cut up your challah into bite sized chunks removing most of the crust.  Pour the caramel into the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Take the challah chunks and put them all over the caramel in a single layer.

In a big measuring cup combine some half-and-half, eggs, vanilla paste (you can use vanilla extract if you don't have any), a little Grand Marnier, some salt, and some pumpkin pie spice.  If you don't have any pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon would be delicious too but I love the way that the citrus flavors in the pumpkin pie spice complement the Grand Marnier.

Pour the egg mixture over the bread and use a spoon to press any chunks that are sticking up into the custard.  Cover it with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, pull it out of the fridge about 45 minutes before you are going to bake it.  Then bake it at 350, uncovered, for about 40 minutes.  It will be puffed up and golden.  Be careful not to overcook it or the caramel will start to harden.

Invert it when you serve it so that the gooey caramel is on top.  It may not be the prettiest dish, but it is oh so good.  The warm caramel sauce, combined with the sweet custardy challah makes a perfectly decadent breakfast treat!  I recommend serving it with some crispy bacon and fruit. 

Overnight Caramel French Toast
Adapted from Epicurious
Serves 4-6 

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tbls. light corn syrup
• loaf of challah
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla paste
• 1 1/2 tsp. Grand Marnier
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp. salt

1. In a small saucepan melt butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Then pour into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.
2. While the butter mixture melts, cut or tear the challah into about 1-inch chunks, removing most of the crust.  Place the challah chunks on top of the caramel sauce in a single layer.
3. In a large measuring cup, combine the half-and-half, eggs, vanilla paste, Grand Marnier, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Pour over the bread and use a spoon to press any chunks that are sticking up down a little.
4. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. About 45 minutes before baking, remove the french toast from the fridge so it can come to room temperature.
6. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 40 minutes, until puffed and golden.  It will deflate after it comes out. 
7. Serve hot.  When serving, invert on plates so caramel layer is on top. 

I'm linking up with Busy Monday, Inspiration Monday, Craftastic Monday, Monday Funday, Lou Lou Girls, Mad Skills, Create Link Inspire, Two Cup Tuesday, Tips & Tricks, Made By Me, Whimsy Wednesday, Wednesday Whatsits, Wake Up Wednesdays, Moonlight & Mason Jars, Pin Junkie, Thrifty Thursday, Link Party Palooza, Lou Lou Girls, Get Him Fed Fridays, Best of the Weekend, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, The Yuck Stops Here, Show Stopper Saturday, and Weekend Potluck.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Over Thanksgiving my sister was raving about the Pumpkin Coffee Cake recipe she found on one of our favorite blogs, How Sweet Eats.  I had most of the ingredients on hand so I decided to try it out for one of our weekend "special breakfasts."  Even though pumpkin is generally thought of as a fall flavor, I think this would make a great breakfast for Christmas (in case you haven't decided what to have tomorrow morning).  The original recipe calls for yellow cake mix and some pumpkin pie spice but I had a spice cake mix so I decided to use that instead.

I also followed my sister's recommendation and instead of making a big 9 x 13 I split the batter between an 8 x 8 baking dish for that morning, and a square foil pan for the freezer.  Then I will have something on hand for when I need a quick but delicious brunch dish.

Start out by mixing together a small can of pumpkin, water, vanilla, and 2 eggs.  Once that is all combined add in the spice cake mix and a little baking soda.  That's it, your batter is ready.  Pour it all into 2 square (or a 9 x 13)  baking pans sprayed with cooking spray.

Now for the delicious crumb topping.  In a separate bowl melt half a stick of butter.  Add in a half cup each of flour and brown sugar and mix it all together.  I used a fork because I think that is the best way of breaking it up without having to use my hands (I'm kind of prissy).  Then sprinkle the topping all over the top of the batter using a fork (or your fingers).

Pop it in the oven for 30 minutes (since I used two pans I rotated them halfway through).  When it is almost ready, make your glaze.  In a small saucepan combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup milk (I used skim, the original recipe calls for heavy cream), and 2 tsp. vanilla.  Bring it to a simmer, then remove it from the heat and stir until the sugar is all disolved.

When you pull the coffee cake out of the oven poke little holes all over the top and then pour the glaze all over it.  YUM!!!!

For those of you who are going to be freezing half of this, I only made a half recipe of the glaze and then I wrote the instructions for it on the freezer bag I put my foil pan in.  When I am ready to eat it, I will just thaw it, reheat it, and then pour the fresh glaze on top.

This recipe came together really quickly and was delicious!  I highly recommend trying it out.  The original recipe called for walnuts in the crumb topping, but I am not a fan so I just left them out.  If you like walnuts, feel free to add them back in.  I think next time I will substitute with some chopped pecans instead of just leaving the nuts out entirely.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Adapted from Heather Disarro via Tasty Kitchen

For the cake:

• 1/3 cup water
• 15 oz. can pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbls. vanilla
• 1 box spice cake mix
• 1 tsp. baking soda

For the crumb topping:

• 4 tbls. butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour

For the glaze (if freezing half, halve amounts of glaze):

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. In the bowl of your mixer combine the water, pumpkin puree, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Add in the spice cake mix and baking soda and mix until combined.
4. Pour into a 9 x 13 or 2 square baking pans coated with cooking spray.
5. Make the crumb topping: Melt the butter, then stir in the flour and brown sugar with a fork until you have crumbs but it is well combined.  Sprinkle all over the top of the cake batter.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. When the cake is almost finished make the glaze: In a small saucepan combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup milk, and 2 tsp. vanilla.  Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
8. When the cake is baked poke small holes all over the top and then pour the glaze all over.
9. Let the glaze soak in for a few minutes, then serve warm.

I'm linking up with Flashback Friday, Retro Pin Party, Whimsy Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Link Party Palooza, and Inspiration Monday.