French Toast

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For some reason, I had always thought that French toast was a difficult breakfast to prepare. I was totally wrong. This is twice I’ve made this recipe in the past few months and I just love it. The first time I made this, I used regular whole wheat sandwich bread, and drizzled it with maple syrup and a few blueberries (my daughter loved it). This time I used French bread, drizzled it with maple syrup and topped it with sweetened strawberries and bananas (and again, my daughter loved it).

I have to state the fact that my daughter loved it because she usually doesn’t eat things I cook for her – she’d rather eat raw stuff, like vegetables, fruit and sandwiches (at least it’s good for her!).

French Toast
Serves 1-2, depending on how hungry you are!

Ingredients
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash nutmeg
2 slices bread, whatever kind you have
butter for pan

Method
Coat a frying pan with butter and warm the pan to medium heat.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into a shallow rimmed plate or bowl, to easily coat slices of bread. Dip slices of bread, one at a time, into the egg mixture, turning to coat thoroughly.

When the pan is hot, place slices of bread inside and cook for about 3 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and crispy. Turn the slices of bread over and cook again until golden brown and crispy.

Serve with maple syrup and/or fresh fruit.

Fruit Smoothie

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I haven’t made this recipe recently, but rediscovered the recipe via my Flickr sets. I wanted to post it here because it is truly my favorite smoothie recipe.

Fruit Smoothie
Source unknown

Ingredients
1 small frozen banana (place in freezer about 2-3 hours ahead of time)
2 large juicy nectarines or peaches, peeled, stoned and cut into pieces
4 strawberries, hulled and cut in half
125ml (4 fl oz) orange juice
125g (4.5 oz) pot vanilla yogurt

Method
Peel the banana and cut into chunks. Place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

This is a simple drink that is totally refreshing, and I’m getting a huge craving for one right now!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

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This is a cookie for the peanut butter lover. It was just a touch too much peanut butter in one bite for me, but I will admit that these cookies are very tasty. And very full of peanut butter.

I originally saw the recipe for peanut butter sandwich cookies in the new The Taste of Home Cookbook. I did not use the recipe for the cookies (because it called for butter-flavored shortening, which I don’t have any of because I don’t like shortening), but I did use the recipe for the filling.

The old-fashioned peanut butter cookie recipe comes from A Chow Life, who is a self-confessed peanut butter lover. I divided the recipe in half and ended up with 16 sandwich cookies.

The filling recipe… I also cut this recipe in half and ended up with enough filling to fill the 16 sandwich cookies, plus two or three tablespoons extra. I’m posting the full recipe here.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie Filling
Adapted from The Taste of Home Cookbook

Ingredients
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 -6 tablespoons milk

Method
In a large mixing bowl, beat the peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread filling on half of the cookies and top with another cookie.

Note, I’m keeping my sandwich cookies refrigerated because of the milk in the filling.

Brown Sugar Oat Muffins (with Ground Flaxseed)

Roasted Broccoli

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I have never eaten nor heard of roasted broccoli before. It just never seemed like the type of vegetable that one would roast, so the idea never entered my mind until I watched a Food Network show that showed how to make roasted broccoli. I thought it sounded, and looked, really yummy, so I had to make it for myself, although with some changes (I didn’t use the cheese or lemon).

Photo above is of fresh broccoli, just before going into the oven.

Roasted Broccoli
Adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
1 head of broccoli
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim about 1 inch off the ends of the broccoli stalks and cut the broccoli lengthwise into spears. Arrange the broccoli on a nonstick cookie sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and season with a little bit of salt and a generous amount of pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and turn broccoli spears over. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes.

This yummy green side dish tastes amazing. I didn’t realize that roasting the broccoli would give it a totally different taste. I can’t even explain it, just try it for yourself next time instead of steaming or boiling!

Ghirardelli Devil’s Food Cake & Mocha Buttercream

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Yesterday was my birthday, so I just had to bake a cake. It took a while for me to decide what kind of cake I wanted and I ended up with a couple of recipes inside of a Ghirardelli 100% Cocao baking bar (that’s an unsweetened chocolate baking bar, in case you weren’t sure). It was for a one-bowl devil’s food cake and mocha buttercream.

This was going to be a bit of a dare, however, as the recipe asked for shortening – 1) I don’t have any shortening because 2) I don’t like shortening. I had read many comments from people who always substitute butter for shortening with minimal or barely noticeable differences, so I took a chance and substituted unsalted butter for the shortening.

What I thought would happen though, ended up happening. The recipe tells you to sift a flour mixture into a large mixing bowl, then put all the wet ingredients on top of that and mix for 2 minutes. That’s a really strange way to make cake batter, in my opinion. I thought that the butter wouldn’t mix in thoroughly and would leave butter chunks in the batter. And, well, I was right.

I didn’t want to keep beating the batter so I wouldn’t overbeat it, so I poured it into a pan and sat it on the stove over gentle heat for just enough time to melt the butter. I kept thinking I should have went with a different recipe, because this one would end up a disaster and I would have wasted a whole bar of that 100% cocao!

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However, the cake ended up baking just fine, much to my surprise!

Note, number of candles not relative to my age (although some could argue that)

The buttercream was very strange to make as well, even though I did have all the required ingredients for that. The recipe says to melt a bar of 100% cocao. Then dissolve two teaspoons of instant coffee in 2 tablespoons of boiling water, and stir it into the melted chocolate. This turned the melted chocolate into a sticky clump of chocolate and my first thought was that this would not be able to mix into the frosting without clumping. And, well, I was right again.

I beat the frosting for quite a while (maybe two minutes?) at medium-high speed just to work out the clumps and this did actually work. It’s a very light and creamy buttercream with a strong mocha taste. I didn’t need to add all of the milk the recipe asked for, I left about 2 teaspoons (give or take) of the milk out. If I added more it would have been to wet to stick on the cake, I think!

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So, how did this cake end up, overall? First I will say that I will not be making this cake again, even with using shortening. I personally don’t think this cake tastes all that great, but it isn’t bad. I feel like I wasted my nice unsweetened chocolate on this cake, though.

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View printer-friendly PDF recipes here.

Iron Cupcake: Earth Prizes Roundup

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As a lot of you know, I was the happy winner of December’s Iron Cupcake: Earth challenge, Chocolate With A Twist. I kept promising that I would post photos of my prizes once I got everything, and as of today, I have finally received my last prize (two months later!).

So, for your viewing pleasure, my Iron Cupcake: Earth prizes, in the order that I received them…

#1, Original artwork from Jessie Oleson of cakespy.com. You can buy your own Cuppie art at Jessie’s Etsy shop.

#2, A set of Head Chefs kitchen utensils from Fiesta Products. These are cute little things; they each have little belly buttons and cute little butts.

#3, An autographed copy of Hello, Cupcake. Coincidentally, I had gotten a regular copy of this book for Christmas, but gave that copy to my mom as she was very interested in checking out the book. I kept the autographed copy for myself!

#4, A Jessie Steele cupcake apron. This apron is super cute, but half the time I forget to put it on when I start baking!

#5, Cupcake stationery from Betty Turbo’s Etsy shop. Included was a page from a vintage recipe book with a cupcake image printed on it, recipe cards with a stand mixer printed on the back of each one, and an awesome calendar that is hanging on one of my kitchen cabinets.

#6, The Cupcake Courier. This thing is monstrous, and oh so handy! It’s a great thing to own, especially if you need to take your cupcakes somewhere. It sure beats the old way I was storing cupcakes – in a 13×9-inch cake pan with a sheet of aluminum wrapped around the top of it!

The company accidentally sent me two of these babies; I emailed them asking if they’d like me to return it, but the reply I got stated that I should instead give it to a friend and make her day!

#7, A set of cupcake pincushions from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies. Now, I don’t sew, so I gave these to a friend who does do a lot of sewing. She and her daughter were very happy to receive them.

#8, A cute pair of cupcake earrings from Lots of Sprinkles’ Etsy shop. Unfortunately, I don’t have pierced ears.

#9, The very last prize that I received today is the prize I’ve most been looking forward to. The Taste of Home Cookbook, with over 1300 recipes. This book is a monster and looks like it’s packed full of amazing recipes. You can expect to see some here soon!

Thank you to all the prize donors and thank you to everyone who voted for me! :)

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Running short on sweets, I had to think of something to bake today. There has been a recipe on the back of every single Ocean Spray Craisins bag I have gotten recently that has really held my interest. The oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chunk cookies.

Don’t be fooled by this average-looking cookie with an incredibly long name. They are super easy to make, and taste absolutely incredible. They became an instant family favorite within just 30 minutes out of the oven.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
View printable PDF
Adapted from Ocean Spray brand Craisins

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Sweetened Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in sweetened dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

I love how the moistness of the cookies make the dried cranberries softer, and fresh from the oven the white chocolate is yummy and gooey (I used a Ghirardelli white chocolate bar). This is a cookie with a soft inside and a crunchy outside. I was really surprised at how delicious these are; we’ll definitely be making these again!