Cinnamon Chip Scones

Close your eyes and just imagine with me for a moment – You’re sitting at the breakfast table; the house is filled with the aroma of fresh baked scones. You pick one up; it’s still warm. You break it in half and take that first bite. It’s crisp on the outside, tender and light on the inside, and filled with bites of sweet cinnamon. Sound good? I assure you it is.

I’ve been making these scones for years now, ever since my mom showed up at my door with the best present ever – a bag of cinnamon chips. At the time, we had never seen them before, and I immediately got to work on a recipe to make them shine. Welcome to the world, Cinnamon Chip Scones. You make me so very happy.

These scones freeze beautifully (and I think they actually bake up better when frozen), so I always try to keep some stashed away. Great for busy mornings around the house, a surprise guest, or the “uh oh, I was supposed to bring breakfast” moment we all occasionally have, I can honestly say that stash has come to my rescue more than once.

Cinnamon Chip Scones

• 4 ¼ cups Flour
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 sticks butter, very cold
• 1 cup Heavy Cream, plus extra for brushing tops
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup Cinnamon Chips (usually in the Chocolate Chip section)

In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse to combine.

Dice butter and add to food processor. Pulse several times until butter is mostly pea sized and combined with the flour mixture. Pour into large bowl, and make a well in the middle.

In a separate bowl, whisk together cream and eggs. Pour into the well in the flour and butter mixture and slowly stir to combine. Stir in cinnamon chips.

On a well-floured surface, knead dough a couple of times to form a ball. Roll dough to about 1” thick. You will probably see bits of butter. This is good! The butter pieces are what makes the dough bake up light and flaky. Use a 3” round cutter to cut scones and place on a parchment lined pan. I usually get about 18 scones.

Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours. Remove scones from pan and place in zip top bag. Keep them in the freezer until ready to bake.

To bake: Pre-heat oven to 400⁰. Place the desired number of scones two inches apart on a parchment lined pan. Do not defrost scones; they are baked straight from the freezer. Brush the tops with extra heavy cream (this makes them so shiny and pretty!), and if desired sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden on top.

Serve plain or with honey-cinnamon butter.

NOTE: Yes, you can bake them in their unfrozen, just stirred together form. However, I always have better results with them frozen. They hold their shape better and do not brown as quickly when baking from frozen. If you get impatient and have to bake some right away, keep an eye on them as the cook time will not be quite as long.

Merry Christmas Breakfast!

Hello All! I took a few days off to enjoy Christmas and I hope you did the same!

We had several days of fun and merriment with a little bit of travel mixed in, but of course, our favorite is Christmas morning! Last year, we started the tradition of having a nice Christmas breakfast here at our house, and this year I ritzed it up a little and we actually ate in the dining room on real plates and everything! I love having both sides of our family come over to see what Santa has brought and then sit down to a nice meal (in our PJ’s!) – I can see this easily becoming my favorite Christmas tradition.

We enjoyed a hearty breakfast casserole (recipe below!), sour cream cornbread toasted and served with honey and strawberry jam (thanks to Ina Garten’s new cookbook – Make It Ahead), and the Brunch Bacon I posted about a few weeks ago. Coffee and juice finished it off.  I had every intention of also serving fruit, but it managed to get left in the fridge and forgotten about. Oh well, no one’s perfect.

Our breakfast casserole had a crust made of hashbrowns, then loaded with ham, cheese, and eggs and baked like a quiche. I baked the hashbrown crust the day before, put it in the fridge, and then did the rest quickly on Christmas morning. The sour cream cornbread was made 2 days ahead and just needed to be toasted, and the bacon pretty much just cooks itself in the oven. I love not having to stand over a bunch stuff! Throw it all in the oven and go play with the new toys!

Hasbrown, Ham, and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

• 1 bag (30 oz.) shredded Hashbrowns, thawed
• 4 tablespoons Butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 cup diced Ham (or 1 cup other meat such as sausage or bacon)
• 1 cup shredded Cheese (cheddar or colby)
• 10 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a 9X9 square baking dish with non-stick spray.

Combine melted butter, salt, pepper, and hashbrowns. Press onto bottom and up sides of baking dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes until edges get browned. Remove from oven, use the back of a spoon to press potatoes down even more to make a dense crust. Cool, cover, store in fridge until ready to make and bake filling.

Preheat oven to 350.

Evenly scatter meat and cheese in your prepared potato crust. Whisk together eggs and milk until well combined. Pour into crust. Top with a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until set and golden brown. Serve warm.

Classic Blueberry Muffins

Back when I was working full time, before our bundle of joy came along (3 years ago!), I used to be the muffin (wo)man of the office. I would get up early in the morning to make muffins or other goodies to take to my co-workers. No real reason; it was just something I enjoyed – spreading the muffin love.

Now that I’m not heading into the office every morning, we are left with entire batches of muffins sitting around the house. I’ve been gifting them to family and friends, but then I had the idea to take a basket of muffins to the Little Guy’s preschool for all the teachers. So I broke out my recipe for my favorite easy blueberry muffins.

These are a light and airy, sweet muffin with tart blueberries. It’s such an easy recipe, and you can make the batter ahead, but my favorite parts are the crunchy edges and the way the muffins rise so it looks like the berries are trying to burst through the top.

The preschool teachers were so very appreciative. I’ll have to start thinking about what can go in my next goody basket!

Classic Blueberry Muffins

• 3 cups Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 4 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 2 Eggs
• ½ cup Oil
• 1 cup Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 ½ cups Blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 400⁰. Either coat 2 muffin pans with non-stick spray or use paper muffin liners. This recipe makes 18 muffins.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl – flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs, oil, milk (I used almond milk), and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Scoop or spoon into prepared muffin cups until they are ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before removing.

NOTE: The muffin batter can be made ahead and refrigerated, just don’t fold in the blueberries until you are ready to bake the muffins.

Brunch Bacon

For years, bacon and I had been arch enemies. Standing over the skillet getting splattered by hot grease wasn’t really working out for me. Consequently, I would walk away from the pan, and the result was burned bacon.  On the rare occasion I brought out edible bacon (usually quite crispy, but not actually black!), the Hubby would always make the same bad joke – “oh, who’s in the kitchen cooking the bacon for you?” Funny man.

Well, I finally learned how to cook the bacon in the oven, and have been using this method for quite some time now. So much better for everyone involved. I can make a big batch, I don’t have to stand there, and no one gets burned (or has to eat anything burned).

I’ve also been fancying up my bacon on occasion, adding a maple-dijon glaze and a sprinkle of brown sugar. When I’m serving a holiday breakfast or brunch, this “Brunch Bacon” is the star, and when I have to bring a breakfast item to a potluck I like to make a batch of my Angel Biscuits and turn them into little bacon sandwiches. Everyone loves the salty-sweet combination and something just a little bit different.

Brunch Bacon

• 1 lb thick cut Bacon
• ¼ cup Maple Syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 2-3 tablespoons Brown Sugar

Line a large baking pan with parchment paper. You may need 2 pans to fit all the bacon. Lay bacon strips flat in a single layer on the pan(s).

Stir together maple syrup and mustard until well combined. Brush glaze heavily over bacon.

Sprinkle bacon strips with brown sugar.

Put pans in a cold oven, then turn on to 400⁰. Bake for 20 minutes or a little longer for crispier bacon. You may need to rotate your pans if using two.

Use a spatula to lift bacon strips to a paper towel lined plate to drain for a few minutes. Serve warm. Eat way too much. Become a bacon addict.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Streusel Topping

Pumpkin season is upon us! Everywhere I look, it’s pumpkin spice this and pumpkin pie that. And am I complaining? Nope. Please let me just jump on the bandwagon!

I love all breakfast breads (and lunch breads, and dinner breads…), but there comes a time in a girl’s life when her waistline and her taste buds don’t agree on what’s the best choice, so I’ve been trying really hard to cut back on my bread consumption, especially first thing in the morning. But, this is a muffin that I feel pretty good about.

These are a dense, hearty muffin. No light fluffiness here, but that’s what makes them great for breakfast. You actually feel like you ate something mildly healthy, and it’s going to stick with you for a while. The oatmeal gives it some substance, the pumpkin keeps it moist, and the streusel topping – well, that’s just plain yummy.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Streusel Topping, makes 12

• 1 ½ cups Oats
• 1 ¼ cup Flour
• 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup Canned Pumpkin (usually a can is 15 oz, and I’ll just use half)
• 2 Eggs
• ½ cup Milk
• ½ cup Brown Sugar

Topping

• ½ cup Oats
• ¼ cup Pecans, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• ¼ teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

Preheat oven to 375⁰.

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients for muffins – oats through baking soda. In a separate smaller bowl, stir together wet ingredients – pumpkin through brown sugar.  Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined.

In another bowl, stir together all ingredients for streusel topping.

Fill 12 muffin cups ¾ full (they won’t rise too much). Spoon the streusel topping on top of batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool slightly before removing from muffin cups.

I’ve also made the same recipe as a breakfast cake. I used a springform pan so it would come out easily. Just adjust your cooking time to 35-40 minutes.

Cinnamon Apple & Almond Oatmeal

The past few mornings around here have been amazing.  The temperatures have been in the 50’s, and I have been getting up early and opening the windows to bring a chill to the house. A cozy blanket, hot coffee, and my “me time” starts my day off right. I figured some warm, hearty oatmeal would just complete the picture.

Cinnamon Apple & Almond Oatmeal     makes 2-3 servings

• 1 Apple, cored and diced
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
• ½ cup Oats
• 1 ¾ cup Almond Milk (or regular milk)
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• ¼ cup Sliced Almonds

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add diced apple and cinnamon; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour apples into a bowl while you cook oatmeal.

In same pot, bring milk to a boil, add oats, reduce to a simmer and cook 5-6 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in brown sugar and almonds. Stir in apples. Serve hot.

Cinnamon Rolls

I’m a breakfast girl. Big time. I grew up with an awesome dad who made us omelets to order before school each morning. Now, usually I lean toward a savory breakfast, but these cinnamon rolls are too good to pass up.

I’m an early riser and have always loved the mornings, so I can even make these make cinnamon rolls on a weekday morning.  If you have a bit of time, you can too! The trick is having the dough already made, which is where the Angel Biscuit recipe from a while back comes in. Make yourself a batch of dough, use half for dinner biscuits, and save the other half for these awesome cinnamon rolls.

If you’re a faithful follower, you’ll remember how I said these Angel Biscuits made some of the lightest biscuits I have ever had. (If you’re new, just read back here!) If you’re a super faithful follower, you’ve already made these biscuits and know for yourself how amazing they are! Just imagine that light, fluffy, warm biscuit wrapped around cinnamon, sugar, and pecans. Then think about the drizzle of icing sliding down over the side and onto your fingers. Yep, now I want cinnamon rolls! Let’s get cooking!

Cinnamon Rolls

• ½ Recipe Angel Biscuit Dough
• ½ Cup Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Ground Cinnamon
• ½ Cup Chopped Toasted Pecans (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Milk

Place 1 tablespoon butter in each of two round baking pans. Place pans in oven and warm until butter is melted. Remove pans from oven and swirl butter around bottom and up sides until well coated. Set aside.

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Roll biscuit dough on a well-floured surface into a 12×15 rectangle. Spread sugar mixture over rolled dough leaving a 1” border on the long sides but going to the edges on the short sides. If using pecans, sprinkle them on top as well.

Roll the dough, starting with one long side, into a long log, pressing to seal when you reach the end.

Using a very sharp knife cut the log in half. Cut one half into 8 slices and place into one of your prepared pans. Repeat with the other half.

Cover pans and let raise for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350⁰. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven to cool for 10 minutes.

Combine powdered sugar and milk to make a glaze. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls.

Try to eat just one!