Five-Ingredient Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Muffins

One of my five-year-olds really loved these.  Courtesy of the blog "The Girl Who Ate Everything".  This is a good weekend breakfast project when you want to make something homemade but it can't take all day.

FIVE-INGREDIENT CINNAMON SUGAR PULL-APART MUFFINS

Recipe Notes

I think that you can technically make these with about half of the cinnamon and sugar (there is a lot of sugar wasted) but I am presenting the entire recipe because that is how I made it too.

Ingredients

• 1 package (13.2 oz) Pillsbury Simply refrigerated rustic French bread (find it with the canned biscuits in the supermarket)
• 1/4 c. butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.

2.  In a small skillet, brown butter over medium-low heat (approx. 5 minutes).  The butter will turn a light brown/caramel color and smell nutty.  Set aside to cool.

3.  In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg.

4.  Open bread dough and place on a cutting board.  Using a sharp knife, divide the dough into approximately 31 strips, then slice strips in half horizontally.

5.  Brush each strip with melted browned butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

6.  Stack approximately 10 strips on top of each other and arrange in one compartment of a muffin tin.  Repeat until you have six completed muffins.

7.  Place muffin tin on a large rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan to catch butter/sugar spill-over.

8.  Bake approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

9.  Allow muffins to cool approximately 10 minutes in the pan and then enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest, which originally came from Taste of Home.  It combines some of my favorite fall flavors with chocolate, so what is not to love?!

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

Recipe Notes

Be sure to watch your oven - the recipe calls for 60-70 minutes of baking time, but my convection oven was done in 50 minutes.

Ingredients

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 4 large eggs
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. canned Pumpkin (approx. one can)
• 1-1/2 c. canola oil
• 1-1/2 c. chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

Instructions

1.  Beat the eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil until well-combined.  I recommend using a stand-up mixer, because the oil can be difficult to incorporate.

2.  Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.

3.  Fold in chocolate chips with a spatula until fully incorporated.

4.  Pour into two greased loaf pans.  

5.  Bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and loaves are cooked through.  The recipe suggests 60-70 minutes, but mine were done in 50.

Pancakes

My mom made us these pancakes growing up, and now I make them for my two boys (and Corey too!).  They are easy, can be generally made any time with items always kept in your fridge and pantry, and make a ton of pancakes....batter can be stored in the refrigerator for several days (covered).  Enjoy with butter light syrup!

PANCAKES

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 c. sifted flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 c. milk (whole or skim)
• 1/2 c. margarine (one stick), melted
• 1 tbsp. baking powder

Instructions

1.  Combine egg yolks, flour, sugar, salt, and milk.

2.  Stir in margarine.

3.  Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold egg whites into batter, then add baking powder.

4.  Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet over medium heat, coating with cooking spray.

5.  Cook pancakes on both sides until done.  Serve with syrup.

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

I found this recipe on Pinterest from Pillsbury.com. It is super easy and works for either dessert or breakfast. The original recipe may be found (here).

CINNAMON PULL APART BREAD

Recipe Notes

I would shorten the baking time next time by about five minutes. I think that my oven runs really hot.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. granulated sugar


• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon


• 2 cans Pillsbury Grands biscuits


• 1 c. packed brown sugar


• 3/4 c. (1.5 sticks) butter or margarine

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Grease a tube cake pan or bundt pan.

3. In a gallon-sized Ziplock bag, mix sugar and cinnamon.

4. Separate dough into individual biscuits. Quarter each biscuit and roll individual pieces into small balls.

5. Working in batches, add biscuit dough balls to Ziplock bag. Shake in sugar and cinnamon until coated. Arrange dough in pan.

6. Mix brown sugar and butter and pour over biscuit pieces.

7. Bake 47-52 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in the center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside-down onto a serving plate and pull apart to serve.

Sausage & Cheddar Cheese Strata

My wonderful friend Emily had her bachelorette weekend last weekend down in Seaside, Florida - what a fabulous place it was! We had a beach house, so we cooked most meals, and my contribution was this tasty casserole from The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook. This cookbook is absolutely fabulous - even if you are neither a bride nor a groom, I highly recommend buying this cookbook. There are lots of recipes that serve fewer people (generally 2-4) and there are great basic dinner preparation ideas and party preparation ideas.

SAUSAGE & CHEDDAR CHEESE STRATA

Recipe Notes

I do not recommend skimping on the half-and-half. I had fat free half-and-half available to me last weekend, and while the flavor was good, it was slightly runny. The beauty of this particular breakfast casserole is that it does not require "marinating" over night - therefore, no forethought or preplanning are required. You can whip this up the morning of your breakfast or brunch in less than one hour. Also, the original recipe calls for 24 oz. breakfast sausage and that is a LOT of sausage - I cut the breakfast sausage in half and only used 12 oz.

Ingredients

• 24 oz. ground breakfast sausage (12 oz. regular & 12 oz. hot) - I used only 12 oz. Jimmy Dean reduced fat breakfast sausage


• 4 eggs, beaten


• 2-1/2 c. half and half


• 1 tsp. dried sage


• 3/4 tsp. kosher salt


• 1/4 tsp. ground pepper


• 6 potato bread or soft white bread slices, crusts removed


• 2 c. grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese


• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh chives, flat leaf parsley, or green onions (both white & green parts)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam or grease with butter.

2. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly browned (5-7 minutes). Drain sausage and transfer to a paper towel.

3. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, sage, kosher salt, and pepper.

4. Layer the bread in the prepared baking dish and top with sausage.

5. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and top with cheese.

6. Bake until the strata is set in the middle, about 30 minutes. Do not overcook. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.

7. Garnish with chives, green onions, or parsley.

Mango Parfaits

This Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe would be much prettier in a tall glass, but I wanted to have one for breakfast and what I had on hand was a tea cup, so here we are. Each mango parfait has just 124 calories!

Before you can make a parfait, you will have to make some mango puree: add two ripe mangoes (peeled and cubed), 1/3 c. sugar, and 2 tbsp. water to a blender. Pulse until well-blended. (The mixture will vaguely remind you of baby food.)

MANGO PARFAITS

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. fat-free Fage Greek yogurt
• 4 tbsp. mango puree (from above)
• 1 tsp. sweetened coconut flakes or toasted coconut flakes

Instructions

1. Layer 1/4 c. Fage yogurt in the bottom of a glass. Add 2 tbsp. mango puree.

2. Repeat layers, topping with coconut flakes.

Gran's Gingerbread

'Tis the season for gingerbread! I made some for the neighbors this weekend to spread some Christmas cheer. This recipe was my great great grandmother's (my grandmother's grandmother). It was submitted by my great aunt Susie for the original Houston Junior League Cookbook, and it was first published in 1968 and has been published in several editions since. Enjoy - my family makes this every

GRAN'S GINGERBREAD

Recipe Notes

One recipe will make approximately 2 large loaves or 4 mini loaves. For mini loaves, adjust your baking time accordingly. In my oven, mini loaves took approximately 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter, softened (one stick)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. molasses (we use Grandma's brand)
• 2 eggs
• 2-1/2 c. flour
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. boiling water

Instructions

1. Spray loaf pan(s) with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses.

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

4. Add flour, ginger, cloves, cinnamon.

5. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Add to batter.

6. Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7. Serve warm for breakfast or dessert with a pat of butter.

Honey Bun Cake

This is a great treat to take to a brunch or serve for breakfast on a rainy Saturday. This Cake Mix Doctor recipe is a cross between a coffee cake and a honey bun. And by starting with a cake mix, it is super easy!

HONEY BUN CAKE

Recipe Notes

Suggested baking time is 38-40 minutes. My oven only took 30. This recipe calls for 1/2 c. finely-chopped pecans (optional), but I don't like nuts in my cakes so I left them out.

You can store this cake, covered in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to one week. If frozen, the cake will keep for up to six months. To freeze, wrap in aluminum foil before freezing. Thaw overnight on your kitchen counter before serving.

Ingredients

• 1 package plain yellow cake mix (I used Pillsbury Golden Butter Recipe)
• 1 c. sour cream
• 3/4 c. vegetable oil (canola, corn, safflower, soybean, or sunflower - I used canola)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. finely-chopped pecans (optional)
• 2 c. confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 1/3 c. milk
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray, set aside.

3. Combine cake mix, sour cream, eggs, and oil with an electric mixer for 1 minute on low speed. Scrape down sides of the bowl and continue blending on medium for 2 minutes more. The batter should look thick and well-blended.

4. Pour batter into the prepared pan, smoothing with a rubber spatula.

5. Drizzle honey over the top of the cake, then sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans (optional) over the honey. With a dinner knife, swirl through to blend slightly.

6. Bake until golden brown on the center rack of the oven, approximately 38-40 minutes. (Mine took 30 minutes, so watch your cake for the last few minutes closely!) Let cool on a wire rack while the glaze is prepared.

7. Prepare glaze: Mix confectioner's sugar, milk, and vanilla in a small mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Stir until mixture is well-combined.

8. Pour glaze over the top of the hot cake in the pan, spreading to the sides of the cake with a spoon.

9. Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes more before serving. Cut into 20 squares and serve warm.