Pumpkin Pancakes

These were our Halloween morning breakfast - enjoyed by Em, Justin, Miri, and me.

And, friends. Do not forget to buy the ingredients for the honey nutmeg butter. Believe me. You do not want to miss this part.

Pumpkin Pancakes
taken from Big Girls, Small Kitchen

1 C flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/3 C pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 C milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
about 1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar in a medium bowl.

In a separate small bowl, combine the pumpkin and the egg and whisk to combine. Add the milk, vanilla, and cooled melted butter, and whisk again to make a smooth mixture.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold until they are only just combined--a few lumps remaining are fine.

Heat a cast iron skillet or frying pan over medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Pour about 1/4 C of batter on a griddle per pancake. Sprinkle chocolate chips (to your heart's desire) in the raw batter. Cook until golden brown (about 2 - 3 minute), flip and continue cooking (about an additioanl 2 -3 minutes).

Remove to a plate and serve immediately with Honey-Nutmeg Butter and maple syrup.

Honey-Nutmeg Butter

Taken from Big Girls, Small Kitchen

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1 stick butter, softened

2 Tbsp honey

1/4 tsp nutmeg

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

Cream the butter with the honey, nutmeg, and cinnamon until slightly fluffy and even. Scrape into a small bowl and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before you're ready to use. Then, let it soften slightly.

My Notes:
Again - do not skip the honey nutmeg butter.

Week 21: Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast is a big deal around our house - especially on the weekend. I decided to switch things up from our normal scrambled eggs or chocolate pancakes or french toast to try this new recipe a few weekends ago. I'm sharing it with you to try this weekend.

Breakfast Burritos
Taken from Pioneer Woman Cooks Blog and Cookbook

Makes 6 burritos

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes

2 or 3 large red potatoes, peeled and halved
1/2 large onion, diced roughly
1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb breakfast sausage
1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
5 whole eggs
1/2 tsp season salt
1/8 C half-and-half
1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 C Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas
Salsa, for serving

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover entirely with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender. When they are ready, place the potatoes on a cutting board and dice them into 1-inch pieces.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-low heat. Put the onions in the skillet and sauté until they start to turn brown.

Next, throw in the diced potatoes. Stir well and then slightly press/pack then. Now you will cook them without stirring for several minutes. You want the pan to be hot enough to crisp the potatoes but not hot enough to char them. Cook for several minutes and then flip them with a spatula. Salt and Pepper them as they cook. Cook until desired brownness.

Set potatoes aside.

Brown 1/2 pound of your favorite kind of breakfast sausage. Drain off the fat.

Once your sausage is browned and drained add in the breakfast potatoes and chopped red bell papper and stir to combine over low heat. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add the seasoned salt, pepper, and half-and-half and whisk to beat the eggs lightly.

Add the chives and Monterey Jack to the egg mixture and stir to combine.

With the heat still on low, pour the egg mixture over the sausage / potato mixture. Stir very gently. Continue cooking over low heat until the eggs are set.

When fully cooked throw some into a nice warm tortilla, add some salsa, wrap it up, and enjoy.


We had this for a Saturday morning breakfast. It was pretty easy to make; however, it took much more time than I anticipated it would. Also, I wasn't crazy about the texture of the finished product. It tasted really mushy - there was no crunch in the onions or the pepper or the potatoes. I'm not sure how to fix that. I also think it would be interesting to substitute bacon for the sausage.

The verdict. . . we will make this again. I'm not sure I'd use the exact recipe, but I really like the concept.

Kitchen Challenge 1: Breakfast Bonanza (Winner and a Recipe)

Kitchen Challenge 1 (Breakfast Bonanza) is officially over.



And the winner is. . . Denise! She whipped up some French Toast Souffle.


Just for fun I thought I'd finish off the challenge with one of my favorite breakfast recipes.

From my Mother-in-Law
Overnight Sticky Buns



1/2 C pecans
16 frozen white dinner rolls (I use Rhodes)
Butterscotch pudding - Small box (NOT instant)
1/2 C melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 C brown sugar

1. Spray bottom of bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Sprinkle pecans in bottom of pan.
3. Add frozen rolls.
4. Sprinkle pudding mixture over rolls.
5. Pour mixture of butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar over rolls.
6. Sit in oven over night.
7. Remove rolls and preheat oven to 350.
8. Bake at 25 minutes.
9. Flip pan carefully on to a large plate.

Week 5: Barb's Breakfast Bonanza

The Month 1 challenge involves cooking a new breakfast recipe. I did the cooking on Sunday but just managed to recover enough to actually blog about it.

Here's the evidence.




Don't let the dishes scare you, though. These are actually dishes from Saturday's dinner (beef stroganoff), Saturday's dessert (chewy chocolate chip cookies), and Sunday's breakfast extravaganza. Poor Brad!

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We began breakfast with our very own pumpkin spice lattes.

Adapted from
"Pumpkin Spice Lattes"
posted September 21, 2009 on Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn

Makes 1 - 2 servings



2 C milk
2 Tbsp. canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin, and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice. Whisk really well with a wire whisk. It takes lots and lots of whisking to get all the pumpkin chunks out.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

They weren't as good as Starbucks.

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We had brown sugar bacon and pumpkin waffles after the lattes. (Not exactly a photogenic breakfast but really tasty!)

Adapted from
"Brown Super Bacon"
Paula Deen for Food Network

1/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp. chili powder
8 slices thick-cut bacon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set a cooling rack inside the prepared pan and set aside.

In a shallow dish, combine the brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge the bacon slices in the brown sugar mixture and arrange the bacon on the rack. Bake in the preheated oven until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and serve.

This is the second brown sugar bacon recipe I've tried. The first one is from Gina Neely. I preferred the spicy taste of Gina's recipe (cayenne pepper) to the smoky taste of Paula's (chili powder).

Once the bacon hit the oven I started the waffles.

Adapted from:
"Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Walnut Apples"
from Food Network Kitchens

Makes 8 4-inch waffles

Waffles:
1 C cake flour
1/4 C wheat germ
1/3 C granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp fine salt
3/4 C milk
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C melted butter
1/4 C melted shortening (transfat-free)
1 large egg
1 large egg white

Topping:
2 to 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 crisp apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/4 C pure maple syrup
1/2 C toasted walnuts

For the waffles:
Preheat a waffle iron to medium heat.

Whisk the flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, spice and salt together in a large bowl.

Beat together the milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and melted shortening, egg and egg white, in a large measuring cup. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk together to make a slightly lumpy batter.

For the topping:
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and let cook until slightly browned, but still crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the maple syrup and walnuts and toss to coat. Set aside.

Pour and spread about 1 cup batter into the waffle iron. Cover and cook until crisp and a rich golden brown, about 7 minutes. (Try to resist the temptation to open the waffle iron too soon. Steam will puff out of the iron while the waffles cook, when this stops the waffle is cooked.) Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve hot with the apples.

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Here are a few more breakfast recipes that didn't make the cut:
Breakfast Skillet
Mascarpone Stuff French Toast with Peaches
Baked Caramel French Toast (from an all-breakfast recipe site)