Overnight Nutella French Toast Bake

 This recipe is to die for!! It is one of the best breakfast dishes ever to exist. Here is a load of thanks to my friend/past roommate Tori for this recipe!! I would have made it on International Nutella Day last week, but that couldn't happen since I was on campus for 13 hours. So I decided to finally make it today and did not regret it one bit!

Overnight Nutella French Toast

Makes one 9 x 13 pan
6 eggs
two cups whole milk or heavy cream (I used the cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup maple syrup (I used the normal Mrs. Butterworth's, but pure maple syrup would be even better)
12 mini croissants
Nutella
Butter
Butter a 9×13 inch baking dish. Pour a half-cup maple syrup on bottom.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and vanilla extract until somewhat frothy and set aside.
Cut croissants not quite all the way through and spread generously with Nutella, and close. Soak each croissant "sandwich" in custard mixture for one minute (30 seconds on each side). Transfer to the prepared baking dish and overlap slightly (arrange so they all fit). Pour the rest of the custard over the top and dot the top of each croissant with butter. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bake at 365 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (not pictured), and then enjoy!!

Easy Homemade Whole Wheat Bread

I saw this bread recipe that looked so yummy on http://beingcindykitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/bread It ended up not being hard to make. Trust me when I say that because bread can be hard to make. What's also nice is it can be done all at once, or the dough can be stored for baking later. This is a must-make. Your kitchen and home will smell fantastic, and you will have some delicious homemade bread.

Easy Honey-Whole Wheat Bread

 3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 T yeast

1 generous T salt

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup honey

  5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup white flour* (see note at bottom)

Cornstarch

Warm water

Oatmeal, seeds, any desired toppings (I used oatmeal and wheat germ)

In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine water, yeast, and salt. Add oil and honey and mix a little bit. Add in flour (holding back the last 1/4 cup to make sure your dough is not too dry) and mix ingredients together. Dough should NOT form a ball, and should still be fairly sticky, but you want it to be oozy, not runny! If needed, add more flour. Transfer into a 5-quart plastic container (or a metal bowl lined with wax paper/freezer paper/plastic wrap). Obviously, if you have a mixing bowl that is at least 5 quarts and plastic, you can do this all in one bowl! Cover with something that is not airtight (but DON'T use a towel, or the dough will stick to it... trust me!) and let rise for 2 hours on a draft-free countertop.

 At the end of the 2 hours, you can shape a loaf or store in the fridge. When you are ready to shape a loaf: Grease loaf pan. Sprinkle flour liberally on top of dough, and get plenty of flour on your hands. Remove a section of dough about the size of a canteloupe. Work into a loose ball (dough will not hold shape very well; that's okay). Set in bread pan. Turn oven to 375 degrees. While oven is heating, let dough rest for about 40 minutes if it has been refrigerated (if it hasn't been it doesn't really need any resting time at all). 

Just before baking, combine about 1 t. water with 1/2 t. cornstarch. Brush over top of loaf. Sprinkle with desired toppings--oatmeal, seeds, nuts, whatever you feel like (I used oatmeal and wheat germ.) With serrated knife, slash loaf three times diagonally across the top. Place on top rack in oven and bake 40-50 minutes, until the top of the loaf is a deep brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on a rack. This makes 2 loaves--when I made it, I froze one for later and enjoyed the other with my roommates. This makes great thick sandwich bread (but it can get crumbly), or, as my favorite, good ol' toast with freezer jam. :)

Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes.

Here is a tasty, filling recipe that can do well for breakfast, a snack, or whenever. They are delicious and moist and definitely something to try. If you really want to, I'm sure you can replace the strawberries with another preferred fruit, however, I thought the strawberries were great. I topped them with a tiny bit of fruit syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream. If you want to, the original recipe called for chocolate syrup on top, but I'm not a fan of chocolate syrup and wasn't sure if it would be the best combination for breakfast.

 Recipe from : http://thegreatballoonadventure.blogspot.com/2012/07/mo-pancakes-mo-problems.html

 

Whole Wheat Strawberry Pancakes

 

 

 

-2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you could try substituting with another flour--I used normal wheat flour which worked out just fine)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 & 1/2 heaping tsp sugar

1 pinch salt

3/4 C almond milk (or other milk of choice)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 TBSP + 1 tsp greek yogurt (i used honey flavored)

2/3 cup chopped strawberries

Healthy Banana Bread

This is honestly one of the best recipes I've ever tried. Earlier on, I posted a banana bread recipe. That one is sweeter than this one and has a different flavor, but this one is almost all healthy ingredients. It is moist and has some good nutrients with a hint of protein from Greek Yogurt. This would make a great gift for someone in the fall, too. If you want to try a healthy, delicious bread recipe, you need to try this.

Healthy Banana Bread
 (adapted from http://theshiksa.com/2012/06/13/greek-yogurt-banana-nut-bread/)

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 lb.)
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (whole, 2% or nonfat)
• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Dash of cloves
• Dash of nutmeg
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use them.)
• Nonstick cooking oil spray

You will also need

• Electric mixer, large mixing bowl, medium mixing bowl, small mixing bowl, spatula, 2 loaf pans (a medium and a small one) or 2 medium pans if you don't fill each one almost to the brim.

Total Time: 1 Hour
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Cut the butter into small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl along with the sugar and brown sugar. Use an electric mixer to beat together the butter and sugar for a few minutes. Make sure the butter is fully integrated into the sugar and the mixture becomes small, even sized crumbs.

Add the eggs and applesauce to the bowl and continue to mix till smooth.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork till smooth. Add the mashed bananas, Greek yogurt, and vanilla to the bowl. Use a spatula to stir the mixture till smooth.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves and nutmeg. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet to make a thick batter. Don't over mix-- a few lumps are okay.

 If you are going to use walnuts, fold them in.

Grease two loaf pans with nonstick cooking oil spray. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.

Bake the banana bread for about 50-55 minutes, till the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. If the top of the bread browns faster than it bakes, cover with foil for the remainder of baking time.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Cinnamon Roll Waffles are very easy to make. On Sunday night when I didn't feel like cooking much, I made scrambled eggs to go along with these. All you do is pop open a can of cinnamon rolls (I used Phillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with Cinnabon flavor), spray a waffle iron, place them in, and cook them for a few minutes until golden brown...just like a waffle! When they are still warm, spread on top the icing glaze that comes in the can. If you want a quick dessert or a sweet breakfast side, then these are perfect.

Clam Chowder and Garlic Cheese Biscuits

This clam chowder was another from a cookbook that I have. It is very delicious! However, I learned the hard way: it makes a lot. I should have taken the note when the writer said it's her favorite to serve around Christmas time. So I suggest that you cut it in half, unless you are feeding over 6 people.

Anyways, here is the recipe. I adjusted it a bit from the book so here it goes:

Clam Chowder 

2 to 3 cans minced clams

1 C onion, chopped

1 C celery, diced

2 C potato, peeled and diced

3/4 C butter

3/4 C flour

1 qt half and half (I used fat-free, which worked completely fine once I added about another 3 Tbsp of butter to keep it creamy)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 1/2 tsp pepper (if you like it a little spicy. If you don't, then you can cut it down. I personally liked this much pepper because I'm usually up for a mild flavor kick.)

Add vegetables to a large stockpot. Open cans of clams and pour in the juice with the vegetables, reserving the clams, then add enough water to barely cover. Bring vegetables to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn down heat and simmer over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

In a heavy saucepan, melt butter. Add flour and stir until smooth. Cook for about 1 minute. Slowly add half and half, constantly stirring with a wire whisk until thick and smooth, making a white sauce. Add white sauce to vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Stir in salt, pepper, and clams. Heat through and serve. Adding clams at the last minute keeps them tender instead of chewy. Serve in bread bowls or with garlic cheese biscuits. I actually used the garlic cheese biscuit recipe from the back of the Bisquick box, but there is also this one, which involves more butter and cheese:

Garlic Cheese Biscuits (from The Girl Who Ate Everything): 

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Biscuits:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

4 Tbsp cold butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

3/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Butter Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease or line one cookie sheet with parchment; set aside.

Combine Bisquick with cold butter in a medium bowl using a pastry cutter (I just used 2 forks). Don't worry about mixing too thoroughly; there will be small chunks of butter in the mix about the size of peas. Add cheddar cheese, milk, and garlic powder. Mix by hand until combined, but don't over mix.

Drop 1/4 cup portions of the dough onto the lightly greased or parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes in preheated oven or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

While the biscuits are baking, melt butter is a small bowl in the microwave. Stir in garlic powder and dried parsley flakes. Use a brush to spread the garlic butter over the tops of all the biscuits. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the freshly coated biscuits. Makes one dozen.

Best Banana Bread

Whenever my bananas are getting a little too ripe, I almost always use this awesome recipe for banana bread. It is very easy to make, but even more than that, it is very moist, doesn't crumble easily, and is very flavorful. Seriously, every person who has tried this recipe has complimented on it, and it is usually gone fast. So if you ever need to use up some bananas, try this out.

Banana Bread (Martha Stewart's):

1 stick Butter
1 C Sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 C mashed bananas
1/2 C sour cream (I prefer to use reduced fat. It works just as well)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Stir the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them in. Then add the sour cream and bananas. Bake in a large bread pan for 1 hour.