Cinnamon Apple-Carrot Muffins

I've been craving something that tastes hearty as well as sweet--something that will feel a little decadent, but also hold lots of cozy flavors and be healthy enough for a post-breakfast snack. What better a choice than some good 'ole muffins?

These are definitely packed with flavor, but still have a lovely, moist crumb that is not dense (what is worse than dense muffins?) but holds together fabulously. There's lots of texture from the oats, carrots, and apple. Excellent with some butter or jam as well as on their own!


Ingredients:

-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned, not instant)
-2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-2 tsp. cinnamon
-1/4 tsp. ginger
-1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
-1/2 tsp. salt
-1 cup grated apple (MacIntosh or Granny Smith are good)
-1 cup grated carrot
-2 large, cage free eggs
-1.5 cups of dark brown sugar, packed
-1 tsp. vanilla extract
-1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
-1/3 cup whole milk or buttermilk
-1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a cupcake pan or line with muffin cups.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the grated apple and carrot.

In a separate bowl, blend eggs, sugar, oil, milk, apple sauce, and vanilla with a whisk or electric mixture until evenly blended.  Pour wet mixture over dry, and stir together until just  blended--don't over mix!

Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way, or to the top if you want that "muffin top" look (there is definitely enough batter for that), and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until puffy and a knife poked through the center of a muffin comes out clean. Pop out onto a cooling rack for 15 minutes or so, until cooled enough to eat.

Makes about 16 regular-sized muffins or 10-12 large ones.

Quick, Delicious Breakfast Biscuits

 Okay, so when I say these are "quick," I don't mean that they are microwaveable or anything like that....what I do mean is that the biscuits take less than 10 minutes to get into the oven, and after that, it took about 15 minutes for me to get them to the table with all the finishing touches. Pretty good for a meal that is completely made from scratch.

And just look at those beauties...

 Biscuit Ingredients:
 -2 cups all purpose flour
-4 tsp. baking powder
-3/4 tsp. baking soda
-3/4 tsp. salt
-1 cup buttermilk (sub. 1 tsp lemon juice and fill cup rest of way w/ milk)
-4 tbsp. butter

Preheat the oven to 450F and prepare a pan.

 In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Quickly cut up your butter and sprinkle it into the bowl. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, combine the butter into then flour mixture until it looks like crumbs (the faster the better; you don't want the butter to melt. We are working for imperfection!). Next, pour in your buttermilk and stir with a spatula until it creates a sticky dough.

Flour a surface and dump your batter out. Flour your hands and fold the dough over itself, with care, 5-6 times, being sure not to press down on it. It should be airy and light. Next, form your dough into a 1 inch high surface, and using a 2 inch cookie cutter or glass dipped in flour, cut out as many biscuits as you can. Reform the scrap dough, working it as little as possible, and cut out more biscuits. You should have 6-7 biscuits when you are done.

Once you have them all ready, brush them with a little milk, and place them in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until risen high and the tops and bottoms are golden brown.


Filling for Biscuits:
-6 eggs
-3 large, thick slices of Virginia Ham
-6 Slices sharp cheddar cheese

While the biscuits are cooking, preheat two pans on medium heat. In the first pan, once it is hot, pour a drizzle of oil, then lay in your pieces of ham--do this in batches if needed. Let the ham sizzle away until it gets  crispy with deep brown spots.

In the second pan, drizzle in some oil to the hot pan and crack in a few of the eggs, sprinkling with some salt and pepper. We like ours over easy. I cook those on the first side until the white is almost completely firm, then carefully, with a rubber spatula, I flip them gently and cook for 30 seconds on the second side, just to firm up the egg white, and then the yolks are still soft. If you want your egg yolks firm--over hard, just cook them on the second side until they feel firm under pressure from the spatula.

Once eggs and ham are finished, cut the ham slices in halves on a plate, and rest a finished egg on each slice.

When the biscuits are ready, take them out of the oven and cut the tops from the bottoms...I think you know what to do next. Assemble, and eat! These are really delicious--SO much better than McDonalds...

French Toast Bread Pudding

This is probably one of the easiest, most delicious, low-maintenance holiday breakfast foods ever invented. That should be reason enough to try it! You can experiment with different types of bread (I've used really fancy challah bread from an organic bakery, and I've also used a three day old Wal-Mart bakery loaf). All will yield delectable results.

Ingredients:

-1 large loaf of bread (some say it should be stale, frankly, I don't think it matters whether it's stale or not)
-1 cup finely diced apple (a sweet one like Gala or Golden Delicious)
-1/2 cup golden raisins
-3 eggs
-3 cups of milk
-2 cups of cream or half and half
-1/2 cup sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon


For the top:
-1/3 cup sliced almonds
-3 tbsp. butter, diced
-1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Break up your bread into 1-2 inch pieces. If you are a very precise sort of person, you can cut it in cubes with a bread knife. Place in a large bowl with apple and raisins.

2. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Blend in sugar, milk, cream, and cinnamon.

3. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture and stir to coat all of the bread.

4. Butter a 9x13 baking pan, and pour in your bread pudding mixture. Sprinkle the almonds, butter, and brown sugar over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight (or at least 6 hours) to let it really absorb all of the milk.

5. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes, until the top begins to turn golden and the butter is all absorbed.

6. Serve with syrup, honey, jam, or just eat it on its own!