Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread!  I mean seriously.  This makes an amazing Mother's Day table contribution, pleasing both kids and adults alike.  It's sweet, there's warmth from the cinnamon, it's buttery and soft and you get to rip it apart with your fingers.  Om nom.   There are many recipes out there that call for using packaged biscuit dough, but we try to avoid processed foods, so I found a recipe that called for making the dough from scratch. There is rising time involved so plan accordingly!

Monkey Bread
Food Network Canada
Makes 1 large bundt pan

4 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200F. Lightly oil a large bundt pan or other baking pan.

In a large bowl, add melted butter, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and yeast. Stir together, then add the flour and salt. Mix with mixer until dough comes together in a shiny mass, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Put the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and place in the preheated warm oven for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. When the dough has risen, take it out of the oven and pour the melted butter into a small bowl. Put the sugar and cinnamon into a second bowl and whisk well to combine.

Punch down the dough to knock the air out of it and then form and roll small balls in your hand or on the counter. Dip them first in the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon sugar and layer them in the bundt or other baking pan.

Put the pan into the oven to rise for a second time, for about 45 minutes, until the dough balls reach the top of the pan and double once again.

Remove from the oven, and increase the heat to 350F. Once hot, place the pan back into the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

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Gingerbread Granola

So uh...hello again.  Poor blog.  I'm not apologizing, however - life, real life, comes first and foremost always, no? 

While writing up the recipe for this post I felt badly about not updating on life (you know, for all of those readers still hanging around *crickets*).  Perhaps in another post?  I'm just dipping my toes into the blog waters at this point...see how she feels, trying things on for size again.

In any case, hai!  Granola!  I feel bad about granola.  It's like the redheaded step child of foods I like.  When I have it, I'm all over it, a regular yogurt-n-granola-for-breakfast-lunch-snack-nighttime snack-fiend.  Bring it on.  When I don't have it, I don't feel like making it and therefore do not have a fiendish addiction to it.  I'm so fickle.

This granola?  Even Matt (who doesn't typically like yogurt) thought this was delicious.  It's the maple syrup, doncha know.  And of course those gingerbready spices.  I was at first concerned about all of that olive oil - I would suggest using a very light and subtle oil although once baked and tasted you don't really know it's there.  We typically choose Greek yogurt, for the thicker texture and tangy flavor.  Top it off with this crunchy goodness and you are set.  Om nom.

Gingerbread Granola
A Beautiful Mess

2 cups oats
1 cup almond slivers
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves

Combine oats and almond slivers in a large bowl.  Add olive oil and maple syrup and stir to combine.  

Combine spices in a separate bowl and toss with granola.  

Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until golden and crunchy!

I'm caving, but just barely.  Here's the most recent shot of my beautiful family:

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Dutch Baby Pancake

It's been raining. And raining and raining. I don't believe it's ever going to stop. There are residents in my small city who've been given flood evacuation notices due to the swollen waterways and incessant rain. Send a boat, would you?


Perhaps if I make another Dutch Baby pancake for the Bear, the sun shall return.

Do you think I should have allowed mine to brown a bit longer? It was quite eggy and rich (duh?) and although absolutely delicious, the texture wasn't as light as I was expecting. The Bear and I had sliced strawberries and a bit of syrup with ours and it was sugar overload - one or the other, next time.

The recipe uses 3 eggs to serve 2 to 4 people, so if you find yourself with a few eggs needing to be used up (as I was), this is a sweet change from the expected omelet or quiche. However, one could omit the sugar and add a few savory notes to the batter, like rosemary or hot sauce, and serve with cooked ham or sausage and small-cubed cheeses, for a different take on that expected omelet or quiche.

Dutch Baby Pancake
Dinners For Winners
Serves 2-4

2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
powdered sugar, fruit, jam, syrup, etc for serving

Place butter in oven proof skillet (cast iron, preferably) to preheat at 425F. In a blender, food processor or using a stick blender, combine eggs, milk, flour, salt, vanilla and sugar till smooth.

When oven is preheated and butter melted, remove the skillet (use your oven mitts - that sucker is HOT) and swirl butter to coat all sides. Pour batter into the hot skillet and return to oven to bake 20 minutes, or until puffed and browned.

Slice and serve immediately as pancake begins to deflate upon removal from oven. Serve with various toppings.
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Bacon Pancakes

You win some, you lose some.

This recipe wasn't a hit for us. In fact, I was the only one who tried them.

Onto the list of complaints...the pancakes themselves were rubbery and flat. I've made better pancakes. The pancake area surrounding the bacon was soggy and not the sort of texture I'd want to experience first thing in the morning.

As far as praise...the flavor? Amazing. Matt suggested cooking the bacon first, chopping it up and adding it to the pancake batter then frying the pancakes in a small amount of bacon grease to retain the flavor but to omit the strange texture. I thought that was a good idea.

I love the look of the pancakes, though. They're neat. Sorry, Martha...we didn't really dig this one.

Bacon Pancakes
Martha Stewart
Makes 8

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
8 slices bacon

Preheat oven to 200F.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter and egg. Add flour mixture and mix until just moistened with small to medium lumps.

Cook bacon over medium high heat in a large skillet. Drain all but 1 teaspoon fat from skillet. Heat skillet to medium.

Pour 1/4 cupfuls batter into skillet and top each with a bacon slice. Cook until bubbles appear on top of pancakes, about 2 minutes. With a spatula, carefully flip pancakes and cook until browned on underside; 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter with bacon side up and loosely tent with foil. Keep pancakes warm in oven and repeat with remaining batter.


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