Waffles

Pioneer Woman Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1-1/2 cup Milk
• 2 whole Egg Yolks
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon (additional) Vanilla Extract
• 1 stick (1/2 Cup) Salted Butter, Melted
• 4 whole Egg Whites

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the waffle iron to the regular setting.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, 2 egg yolks, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and very gently stir until halfway combined. Pour in the melted butter and continue mixing very gently until combined.

In a separate bowl (or using a mixer), beat the egg whites with a whisk until stiff. Slowly fold them into the batter, stopping short of mixing them all the way through.

Scoop the batter into your waffle iron in batches and cook according to its directions (lean toward being a little deep golden and crisp!) Remove and serve immediately with softened butter and warm syrup. 

Source-http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2014/02/waffles/

Cinnamon Rolls

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients


1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast, 0.25 Ounce Packets
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Reserved) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
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MAPLE FROSTING:
1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/4 cup Brewed Coffee
1/8 teaspoon Salt
Preparation Instructions
For the dough, heat the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat to just below a boil. Set aside and cool to warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let it sit on the milk for 1 minute.
Add 8 cups of the flour. Stir until just combined, then cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set aside in a relatively warm place for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the towel and add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the remaining 1 cup flour. Stir thoroughly to combine. Use the dough right away, or place in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for up to 3 days, punching down the dough if it rises to the top of the bowl. (Note: dough is easier to work with if it’s been chilled for at least an hour or so beforehand.)
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
To assemble the rolls, remove half the dough from the pan/bowl. On a floured baking surface, roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 30 x 10 inches. The dough should be rolled very thin.
To make the filling, pour 3/4 cup to 1 cup of the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Use your fingers to spread the butter evenly. Generously sprinkle half of the ground cinnamon and 1 cup of the sugar over the butter. Don’t be afraid to drizzle on more butter or more sugar! Gooey is the goal.
Now, beginning at the end farthest from you, roll the rectangle tightly towards you. Use both hands and work slowly, being careful to keep the roll tight. Don’t worry if the filling oozes as you work; that just means the rolls are going to be divine. When you reach the end, pinch the seam together and flip the roll so that the seam is face down. When you’re finished, you’ll wind up with one long buttery, cinnamony, sugary, gooey log.
Slip a cutting board underneath the roll and with a sharp knife, make 1/2-inch slices. One “log “will produce 20 to 25 rolls. Pour a couple of teaspoons of melted butter into disposable foil cake pans and swirl to coat. Place the sliced rolls in the pans, being careful not to overcrowd. (Each pan will hold 7 to 9 rolls.)
Repeat the rolling/sugar/butter process with the other half of the dough and more pans. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cover all the pans with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 20 minutes before baking. Remove the towel and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t allow the rolls to become overly brown.
While the rolls are baking, make the maple icing: In a large bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, butter, coffee, and salt. Splash in the maple flavoring. Whisk until very smooth. Taste and add in more maple, sugar, butter, or other ingredients as needed until the icing reaches the desired consistency. The icing should be somewhat thick but still very pourable.
Remove pans from the oven. Immediately drizzle icing over the top. Be sure to get it all around the edges and over the top. As they sit, the rolls will absorb some of the icing’s moisture and flavor.
Source- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/

Monkey Bread

Ingredients

1 pkg of parkerhouse style bread roll dough. You can find it in the freezer department. Thaw dough.
1 cup Sugar
2 teaspoons (to 3 Teaspoons) Cinnamon
2 sticks Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar


Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Open thawed roll pkg and cut each roll in quarters.
Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. (3 teaspoons of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 teaspoons.) Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.
Drop all of the roll quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the rolls quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the bundt pan.
At this point, you’re going to want to melt the two sticks of butter together with ½ cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the rolls.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When its finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

Source- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/monkey-bread/

Charleston Breakfast Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
12 slices bacon
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups croutons
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1 bell pepper (any color), diced
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS:
It's even better if you make this up the night before and put it in the refrigerator. Then in the morning bake.
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Or use premade bacon.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
3. Melt butter in the microwave, or in a small pan on the stove over low heat. Spray a 9x12 inch baking dish with vegetable spray. Place croutons in the bottom of the dish, and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese.
4. Crack the eggs into a bowl, whisking to break up the yolks. Add milk, peppers, mustard, salt, and pepper, and beat until well-combined. Pour over the croutons and cheese, and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Source- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=51960&origin=detail&servings=8&metric=false

Sausage Gravy

Ingredients


1 (12 ounce) package maple flavored sausage

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 cups whole milk

salt and pepper to taste


Directions

6 servings

Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan. Stir in the butter until melted. Add flour, and stir until smooth. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until light brown. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in cooked sausage. Reduce heat, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. If gravy becomes too thick, stir in a little more milk.
Source http://m.allrecipes.com/recipe/51304/bills-sausage-gravy

Breakfast Burritos

I find this recipe completely appropriate for this weekend. Why you ask? Well it's because I’m experiencing a month filled with the fabulous Smith family. And if you haven’t figured out by now this recipe comes from them. They have and will continue to keep my weekends busy until the charming Leah is wed in just a few short weeks! This weekend is the last of Leah's Bridal Showers and my last opportunity to spend a bit of time with her before her big day! I also get the pleasure of spending another fabulous weekend away with her sister and my dear friend Abbie. I've begun to love our road trips! Speaking of love, my sweet husband will be taking care of the kids again in order for me to go! Isn't he incredible! He has given me two weekends away in one month!! I'm blessed with an amazing husband for sure. I must add that he did a fantastic job with our little ones and made all the meals himself during my last excursion! No extra work for me, I feel very blessed.

So back to the recipe, a few years ago while I was pregnant with our oldest, we were visiting the Smith's over their famous 4th of July weekend. I was in my 1st trimester and not feeling well most of the time. I became quite the picky eater. If memory serves me right, the night before they served this meal they had gone out to get greasy fried southern/drive in style food. A fan of this I was not! Truth be told, if it had been my next pregnancy I would have been all over it like white on rice! Yes well this wasn't that pregnancy. This was the one when I had an extra heightened sense of smell, which brings me back to the moment when I said, "What’s that horrible smell coming from a block away?". Of course I completely deserved the looks I received from that comment. I couldn't even stand being in the room with the crinkled white bag of seeping grease! I went out onto the porch and could still smell it! Let me just say Abbie was amazing and knew just what to do with a pregnant woman on the brink of a collapse. She took me on a boat ride until we received the all clear from the family compound. I can only guess what those poor people did after they had their meal. I have the image of them dancing around their home with air fresheners because of this crazy pregnant woman! Well needless to say when I arrived, there wasn't a single trace of fried grease in the air and in fact I believe the light scent of berries embraced us instead. So after all of that I was truly delighted to have these scrumptious burritos the next morning ;)

6 servings
Ingredients

1/4 lb. pork sausage
2 tbsp. chopped onion
2 tbsp. finely chopped green pepper
2 eggs
2 tbsp. milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. butter
6 tortillas
1 c. shredded cheese

 

Directions

 

Brown pork sausage, onion and green pepper in skillet; drain off fat. In small bowl beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Cook egg mixture in skillet with 1 tablespoon butter. Spoon 1/6 of meat mixture onto a tortilla and top with 1/6 scrambled egg mixture. Then  sprinkle shredded cheese on top.

 

Donut Muffins

What’s more delightful than warm donuts and coffee (or my case hot cocoa) on a morning with the family. This is a terrific treat to get the whole family involved in or more realistically the little ones.  They truly love to roll the donut muffins in the cinnamon and sugar. Plus this would be a wonderful activity to add to your list of family traditions. What time of year and when can be entirely up to you. One of my fond memories as a kid was when my Dad would take my sister and I to the bakery or bagel shop on the weekends. Later as a young teen I worked at that particular bakery. It’s simply amazing how many memories I have from there along with my teen years just in general. The memory I’m thinking of today actually took place the weekend of my 15th birthday at my church's youth group. I had decided to do something special and bring in a few boxes of donuts and muffins. At that same time I was suffering from a head cold and hyped up on cold medication. Which later I found out had alcohol in it! That of course makes sense now because I was a new sophomore and usually a little intimated by the older kids. Well that didn't last long because the cold medication just wouldn't allow it! It made me very relaxed yet  I was completely myself and you know what?  They LOVED me for me! Yes, you could say the donuts and the meds helped but months and months later it still being that way...no that was because I was true to myself. I've continued being myself ever since. Now I'm not saying anyone should go out and get some cold medication instead my goal is to share how important it is to be yourself. Oh and a few donuts and muffins couldn't hurt to break the ice!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
•  
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
2. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup margarine, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the prepared mini muffin cups about half full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. While muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup of melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip each muffin in the melted margarine, and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Let cool and serve. 24 mini servings  allrecipe

Moist Pumpkin Pancakes

So, this recipe has become a tradition for my family. Every year (since last year) I will make this on or at least around Halloween.  I believe it important to have special traditions for every family.  Some of our other fall favorites are common to most families such as hayrides, pumpkin patches, apple orchards. maybe a few less common are how often we watch It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown,  that I decorate the whole house for fall, and we try to wear our dress up costumes once a week just for fun. If you have any fun fall activities your family enjoys doing please share I would love to hear about them. In the mean time try some moist pumpkin pancakes with a splash of real maple syrup!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

1. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot. allrecipes

Quiche Quiche Baby

I can't even tell you how excited I am!  We are waiting in great anticipation of a dear friend of mines baby girl to be born! What a trooper my friend is going through much of the Summer extremely pregnant! Your probably asking yourself what on earth does this have to do with quiche? Well, for the last month I've been asking this friend nearly every chance I 've had if I could make her something yummy to eat. Every time she came over I would send her home with as much food as I could. That's not to surprising I'm always trying to get friends to take goodies home:) Well this is one of the meals I was able to convince her to take home. I told her it would probably go to waste if she didn't ...I think you can see through that ;) Anyway I hope you enjoy this recipe!



Ingredients

1  package fresh chopped spinach

1/2 large tomato

1/2 c. sour cream

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts

1 onion, finely diced

1 pkg of  finely diced ham

1 c. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

1/2 c. Cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, grated

10 eggs

1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream

salt and pepper to taste

Like on a pizza you can really put whatever meats and veggies you like in it.


Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl add spinach , ham, onion , salt and pepper to taste then gently stir in tomato  just to blend. After add half to each pie crust. Then mix together Monterey Jack, Cheddar and Parmesan, and sprinkle over pies. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper, and pour over pies.

2.Place pies on baking sheet, and bake on middle shelf in preheated oven for 40 minutes. The top will be puffed and golden brown. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Old Fashioned Pancakes

 I think a fine stack of delicious pancakes are a perfect start to a great weekend. I like to make these pancakes at least once during the weekend. They are even better with  yummy rich  real maple syrup.  Add a little cinnamon , nutmeg or almond extract for added flavor and fun!





Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1  1/2 tablespoon white sugar

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot. 8 servings