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!!

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

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.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal

One of my favorite breakfast dishes is this Oatmeal recipe. I originally used a recipe from Cooking for Two, but didn't like how sweet it was, so I adjusted it a bit into my own version. I know that many people don't like nuts, which is why the walnuts are completely crushed to add some Omega 3s, protein, and flavor.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal

(This is for one serving. You can increase each amount for the amount of people you are making this for):

1 cup water
pinch of salt

1/2 dried rolled oats (not instant)

1/4 cup walnuts

1 tbsp maple syrup

up to 1 tbsp brown sugar

Place walnuts inside a large ziploc bag and completely crush them into a powder form. You can do this with a rolling pin.

Bring water to a boil with the salt, then add oatmeal and reduce heat to medium. Cook for two minutes.

Stir in maple syrup, cook for 1 minute, then add walnut powder. Stir and cook for another 2 minutes or until the water is evaporated.

Place into a bowl, serve with milk and top with brown sugar.

Ultimate Waffles

The Best Waffles

 

These waffles are the greatest, and not to mention that they are super easy to make. I love to make them in my Belgium waffle iron and put a lot of toppings on it. It is very filling and sometimes even fills for 2 meals. All you need is:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat Waffle iron. Sift dry ingredients together and blend liquid ingredients together. Stir dry ingredients into liquid just until moist, but if you over-stir then the waffles can turn out less fluffy and more stiff. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray, pour in enough batter for the waffle, and close. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until waffle is golden.

Now, if you want an ultimate waffle, here is the vanilla sauce recipe to spread on top of it:

 Creamy Vanilla Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour and sugar. Add milk and cook and stir over medium heat until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

In addition to vanilla sauce, I love to add berries, bananas, and a small bit  of whipped cream and powdered sugar. It seems daring and yes it is sweet, but it is worth it!!

Note: These recipes come from the cook book Cooking for Two. It would be a great book for couples, but if you are in college (like me), most of the recipes will allow you to have a serving and a left over, that way you don't have left overs coming out your ears!

Bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast cups/ hashbrowns

My sibs and I tried making a recipe from http://www.adventuresofourfamily.com/2012/02/bacon-egg-and-cheese-breakfast-cups.html for our mom and grandma for Mother's Day breakfast. They absolutely loved it! And fortunately for us, there were enough left overs (about 9 of these small breakfast dishes), so we were all able to try it. They were very easy to make and were delicious!

Bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast cups

Needed:
A muffin tin
eggs (5 eggs for 6 cups)
bacon
shredded cheddar cheese
crescent roll dough from a can

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin pan with cooking spray. Be sure to cover it so they come out easily afterwards.

Open the package of crescent rolls, and then place one inside each muffin tin. You can play around with each one so that it well forms each muffin space.

Next cook the bacon. After you drain the grease, you can scramble the eggs with 1/4 cup milk along with some salt and pepper on the same pan. Or, if you find that gross (my family enjoys it as it adds more flavor), then you can use another pan. Once the bacon is crisp, crumble it up. Divide the eggs into each muffin cup, then top with crumbled bacon and shredded cheese. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the outer edges of the crescent rolls are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

This picture is not the best, but trust me--they were so good!

Now for the hash browns, if you would like them as a side dish: this is my own recipe that I created, so bear with me, but they are not hard to make either.

 Hash browns:
4 medium potatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp minced onion

Take the potatoes and poke holes all around each one with a fork. You can cook them which ever way you desire, whether you boil them, put them in the oven, or in the microwave, until they are almost cooked through (they need to be a little firm so they are easier to cut without flaking). I find the microwave being the fastest.

Once the potatoes are cooked, chop them up into 1/2 inch pieces, leaving the skins on. Place butter into a skillet, set on medium-high heat. Once it starts to heat up, put in all the potato pieces. Then add salt, peppers, and onion. Cook until slightly crisp with a light brown color. Enjoy with a dipping sauce, such as ketchup.