Jessie's Naner Loaf

This is my first attempt at a 100 PERCENT FROM SCRATCH CREATION.  It went something like this: too lazy to research a recipe, so I made it up along the way.

Here's my inspiration: I bought bananas with the good intention of eating them in a healthy way.  A week later, they are soft and covered in brown spots.  The only solution: bake them into a more unhealthy form: banana bread!

Ingredients:

stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
3 almost rotten bananas
about a teaspoon each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder (I didn't know which to choose, so I used both!)
handful and a half of pecans

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs and bananas.  Add spices and then other dry ingredients.  Bake for an hour at 325 degrees.

This came out pretty good!  I really like the cardamom in it.

French Toast Skillet Souffle

I found this recipe here, while reading up on how to season my cast iron cookware. This comes about a week after me being worried that I had been poisoned by rust in my skillet. Why is cast iron so popular now anyway? Anyone else notice this trend?

Anyway, I learned a good way to season my cast iron stuff: rub with Crisco and let sit in a hot oven for a while. It worked pretty well. No more eating rust!

Clean and shiny cast iron is pleasing to the eye! (At least to MY eye it is).

So this recipe was originally called German Pancakes, but I renamed it because I don't know what German pancakes are supposed to taste like, but I DO know that this tasted a lot like French Toast.


Here's what you will need to make this simple (but looks EGGSTRAVAGANT) breakfast:

3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup of bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
7 teaspoons of butter
some cinnamon
vanilla extract (I used almond since we were out of vanilla)

topping ideas:

sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar
whipped cream
maple syrup
any fresh fruit would be good

Here's a picture of the ingredients crowded into my appliance corner. I've got a toaster oven, microwave, coffee pot and mixer over there and I have to unplug something in order to use something else. Someday I will have adequate storage space or even fancy appliances that go over the stove-top or hide under cabinets! Someday!


Let's get started, folks:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put your cast iron skillet in there too.

2. Let eggs and milk sit on counter until they are about room temperature.

3. Scramble the eggs in your Kitchen-aid or similar mixer until frothy.


4. Add milk, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar and flour.

5. Beat on high for 5 minutes.

6. If oven and skillet are up to temperature, melt butter in the skillet and tilt to cover the sides.

7. Pour batter into skillet and watch it rise!



8. It takes about 20 minutes to cook fully. It should look like this:



9. Remove from oven and serve immediately. It doesn't take long for this to deflate!

Mhhmmmmm. French toast pizza!

.... with whipped cream

...with maple syrup


...and my favorite: with lemon and sugar!


For calorie counters, a quarter of the pan equals:

167 calories
9 grams of fat
1/2 gram of fiber
8 grams of protein

Pancakes

I don't think there is anything better than Saturday morning pancakes. Except for Saturday morning BLUEBERRY and BANANA pancakes.

I usually want pancakes but don't want to make them because it can get a little messy. Using the food processor for this seemed to make clean up a little easier.

This recipe made about 7 pancakes, good for two or three people!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons of oil
1 egg

1 chopped banana and some fresh blueberries

It doesn't get much easier than this: put all the ingredients (except banana and blueberries) in the food processor until it's well blended.


Pour onto pan or griddle. It takes a little bit of "know-how" or sheer luck to get the perfect temperature. I like medium or medium-low.

Dot with blueberries and chopped banana.

SMILE!

Flip when the pancake looks dry around the edges and has bubbles on top.


This is the best maple syrup you will find at the grocery store:


Serve with coffee and a little extra fruit. And syrup, of course!



These were perfect! I really liked the combination of the banana and blueberry. Nice and fresh!

Recipe adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Oatmeal-Pancakes-II/Detail.aspx

Cinnamon Rolls

Who doesn't like cinnamon rolls?! These yummy ones are made FROM SCRATCH! None of that bracing yourself for the POP of a cylinder that you know is coming but makes you jump nevertheless!

Making this recipe takes a lot of time and patience (~4 hours). But if you can handle it, you will be rewarded with cinnamon rolls that taste ten times better than any thing that comes from a refrigerated cylinder.

Here's what you're gonna need:

flour
butter/margarine
eggs (I used egg beaters and it worked)
yeast
milk
white sugar
brown sugar
salt
cinnamon
nuts/raisins

This recipe makes TWO 9x13 pans of cinnamon rolls. I bet you could cut it in half.


MAKE THE DOUGH:

First, combine 1 cup of white sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 6 and 3/4 teaspoons yeast (or 3 packets), and 2 cups flour.

On the stove top, heat 3/4 cup butter and 2 cups milk. Heat to 120 degrees.

Combine butter/milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix for a couple minutes.

Add two eggs.

Add more flour a little at a time (about 4 or 5 cups) until dough forms.

Knead for 10 minutes.

Let dough rise in greased bowl for an hour in a warm spot. Cover with towel or plastic wrap.

After dough has risen, punch down and briefly knead. Divide into two balls. Each ball will make one 9 x 13 pan of rolls.

Left dough rise again for 15 minutes.

Now here's the fun part.

MAKE THE ROLL:

Take one of the balls of dough and roll out into approximately 18 x 12 rectangle.

Brush with 1/4 cup or so of melted butter.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. You can add nuts and raisins too!
I made one with brown sugar and walnuts and another with brown sugar, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, raisins and dried cranberries (it was left over trail mix!).


Starting with the long side, roll like a jelly roll into long tube.

Cut into about 15 equally sized pieces.


Place into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Let rise AGAIN for 40 minutes.

Here's what they look like after rising:


BAKE EM:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned. I baked mine for 25 minutes and they game out a little too dark.


Drizzle with glaze if you'd like.

Glaze recipe: 2 cups confectioners' sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons of water.

HERE'S THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

I think I like the batch with dried cranberries the best, but they were both good! I love how the butter and sugar sink to the bottom of the pan and make a gooey caramel goodness on the bottom of each roll. YUM-O!

Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

This could almost be called a breakfast cookie and that would be like getting away with having sweets for breakfast. When else can you have cookies for breakfast besides CoOOkie Crisp?(do they even make that anymore?)

Anyway, this baked oatmeal is hearty, sweet, soft and chewy on the inside, and a little crispy on top! The dried cranberries are like sweet little gems that give the dish a little sass.

In order to make this, you'll need about 50 minutes total (including prep).

Ingredients are pretty simple and explain why this is ALMOST a cookie:

Dry ingredients:
3 cups of oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar (could likely be reduced)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cardamom (I love cardamom! I could sit and smell a jar of it all day)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Other ingredients:
1/2 cup dried cranberries
*any dried fruits would work well in this, I also think walnuts or almonds would be a great addition

STEP 1: Preheat to 350.

STEP 2: Measure dry ingredients and mix well. Try to avoid big lumps of brown sugar if you can.


Step 3: Measure wet ingredients in a different bowl. Stir with a whisk until well blended.

Step 4: Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and briefly mix. Gently stir in cranberries. If you are like Royall, you could start singing "oh my lifeee, changin everyday, in every POSSIBLE way"...

Step 5: Pour into greased 9 by 13 pan and spread so the mixture is even.


Step 6: Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. SMELLS AWESOME! Like a big oatmeal cookie.

Step 7: Remove from oven when oatmeal has browned on top.


Step 8: EAT! I think this would be best warm, but I suppose you could eat it cold. It easily serves 8+ people. This would be great to make on Sunday night to have throughout the rest of the work week for breakfast. Although I didn't try it, I bet it would be great in a bowl with cold milk poured on top.