Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Breakfast is so awesome.  It is the only meal where it is socially acceptable to eat dessert as your meal.  And also, it is the meal where bacon is found the most.  What's not to love?

These pancakes started out as a copy of some pancakes at one of my favorite breakfast spots (that is now closed...sad!).  The original version is actually cranberry oatmeal pancakes with a honey pecan syrup.  They are also are also quite delicious, and I will probably share that version at some point.  But I was feeling the need for something chocolate-ey, since wine is not allowed at breakfast like I do at pretty much any given time of the day.

These are somewhat similar to my Chocolate Chip Cookie Pancakes, although not quite as sweet and cookie-tasting (just in case you were looking to tone down that whole dessert for breakfast plan).

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Makes ~8 pancakes

170 cal / 5g fat / 28g carbs / 5g protein

1 cup flour

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

3 TB brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 TB melted butter

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1.  In a food processor, combine flour, 1/2 cup of oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Pulse until mixed and oats are powdery.  Place in a large bowl.  Add remaining 1/2 cup oats and stir.

2.  In a separate smaller bowl, beat milk, egg, melted butter, and vanilla until combined.  Add to te dry mixture and stir until just mixed.  

3. Heat a pan or griddle over medium heat, and spray with cooking spray or lightly oil or butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter into circles and sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Cook until edges bubble, then flip pancakes and cook until other side is browned.

The Basics: Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

I have a confession: I am a former Aunt Jemima Complete pancake mix addict. I swore by it. Lived for it.  So convenient, so easy, and so so tasty.

That is, until one fateful weekend morning when I discovered my faithful Aunt Jemima was all gone. What to do?!? The kids were clamoring for pancakes. I had to do something. I set aside my fears and my doubts, and I rose to the occasion.  I made pancake batter from scratch.

 I couldn't believe it....not only was it simple (like 2 extra minutes than my trusted mix), they were just as light and fluffy.....and they tasted better.

Since that fateful morning, I have never re-purchased a box of pancake mix. If you, like former me, only use boxed mix, give this a try. It won't disappoint. And you will have one less processed box of food in your life.

This is my standard pancake recipe. I will often add thinly sliced bananas, blueberries, sliced strawberries, or chocolate chips to the poured batter for a little extra morning pizzaz.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Makes 8 Servings
115 cals / 3g fat / 17g carbs / 3g protein

3/4 cup plus 2 TB milk
1 TB vinegar (or just 3/4 cup plus 2 TB buttermilk if you have it)
1 cup flour
3 TB sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 TB butter, melted (optional)
2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Add egg, melted butter, and vanilla to the soured milk (or buttermilk), and mix well. Add milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined (some lumps might remain).

3. Heat a pan or griddle over medium heat, and spray with cooking spray or lightly oil or butter. Pour 1/4 cup batter into circles (sprinkle with fruit or add-ins now if you want) and allow to cook until edges bubble, then flip pancakes and cook until other side is browned.

Breakfast Time: Healthier Banana Scones with Chocolate Rum Glaze

It has been a while since I have made scones. Luckily, the forces of the universe aligned, it was a gloomy slow morning, I needed something warm and sweet, and I happened to have a couple bananas sitting on my counter just begging to be used in something besides a smoothie.

These use less butter than my favorite recipe, but still bake up nice and flaky with the crunchy edges that make them so delicious. A few notes for these:

• I used the same method as these if you need more instructions.
• I used an equal mix of whole wheat and all purpose flours. You can use any type and ratio of flour you want.
• These are easily adaptable, so you can sub in Earths Balance and Rice/Soy/Almond milk (for my soy-dairy-free friends).
• The chocolate on top gives these just that hint of chocolatey awesomeness without impacting calories too much, but you can makes these healthier by skipping it, if you need to. You can also skip the rum if that isn't your thing.
• You can also make/shape these then freeze them for storage. Bake them straight out of the freezer.
• The dough is sticky. Don't be scared. Just be really generous with the flour when patting and shaping the dough.

Banana Scones with Chocolate Rum Glaze
Makes 12
145 cals / 4g fat / 22g carbs / 3g protein

3/4 cup milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice, or just 3/4 cup buttermilk)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 TB cold cold butter
2 bananas
3 TB semi sweet chocolate chips
1 TB rum

1. Heat oven to 425. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside. Mix milk with vinegar and set aside. Cut butter into small chunks. Peel and cut bananas into small chunks (about 1 1/2 - 2 cups).

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Use your finger tips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal (alternatively, you can do this part in a food processor). Add the milk and banana bits and stir until the dough is just barely combined.

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface, and using floured hands, knead 2-3 times to bring it together. Shape and pat the dough into a rectangle, about 1-2 inches thick. Cut dough into 12 equal size pieces (circles, squares, triangles, wedges...whatever suits your fancy). Place on prepared sheet and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.

4. While scones are baking, combine rum and chocolate in a small bowl, then begin to heat for 20 second increments at half-power in the microwave, stirring in between increments, until melted and smooth. If your chocolate starts to seize, just add a tiny bit of butter to smooth it out. Drizzle over warm scones (I made a quick cone with waxed paper and piped it on for these). Serve warm.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pancakes

I am a flippin' GEE-NEE-YUS. For real. (and modest too!)

This idea came to me a couple of weeks ago. It took me three times to perfect the measurments, but by George, I think I've got it! I am soooooo excited to share! Do these even already exist? No...my just-performed super official google search indicates this is a new development in the breakfast frontier. Mornings just got a little bit more exciting.

Imagine, an updated version of your typical fluffy chocolate chip pancake, but slightly sweeter, saltier, and gooey...just like eating chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.

 A cookie-pancake hybrid, if you will. But without all the guilt, because you can call them pancakes.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pancakes
Makes 12
189 cals / 9g fat / 24g carbs / 4g protein

1 cup milk
4 TB butter
1 1/4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
~3/4 cup chocolate chips (I like the mini ones)

1. Cut butter into chunks and place in a small bow with milk. Heat until butter is just melted (about 1 minute in the microwave for me). Stir to mix and set aside.

2. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar to a medium size bowl. Whisk to blend well. Set aside.

3. Lightly beat eggs and whisk into the milk mixture, whisking to mix well. Stir in vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, and stir until just barely mixed, batter will be slightly lumpy.

4. Heat griddle or pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or lightly grease with butter. Pour batter onto prepared pan by 1/4 cups. Sprinkle each circle with ~1 TB chocolate chips. Cook until edges look done and center begins to cook, about 2-3 minutes, then flip over and continue to cook until done, about 1 minute or so more.

Love Is: Sweet and Spicy Bacon

In honor of Valentine's Day and all things love and romance, I thought I would share this recipe for the best bacon you will ever eat.  Seriously.  The.Best.Ever.

If you are in need of a last minute gift to really impress that special someone, skip the flowers and candy and go with what they really want.....bacon.  Salty, spicy, sweet, crisp, chewy, delicious bacon.

You can't go wrong here, I promise.  Unless your special someone is Muslim.  In that case, bacon would be very wrong.

Sweet and Spicy Bacon

1 pack thick-cut bacon (1lb)
3 TB brown sugar
1/3 tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 tsp black pepper

1.  Heat oven to 375.  Lay bacon slices out evenly over a broiler pan or wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet (has to be this way so the fat drains off and the sugar caramelizes and crisps up.  Don't just lay it on a flat sheet).  Mix sugar, cayenne, and pepper together,  set aside.

2.  Cook bacon for ~20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle 1/3 sugar mixture over each slice.  Turn each slice of bacon over and sprinkle evenly with remaing sugar mix, spreading with the back of a spoon if needed.  Return to oven and cook until bacon is crisp and done, about 20-25 min more.  Serve warm or at room temp.

Starting off and half-way done.

If you want to be really crafty, cut each raw bacon slice in half, then fold the halves onto each other to form a heart shape before baking.

Christmas Morning Cinnamon Rolls

Another indulgence.....from-scratch cinnamon rolls, gooey, delicious, and hot out if the oven. The perfect way to start Christmas morning (or any morning really, because when could a fresh hot cinnamon roll be bad???).

These work especially well for busy mornings because you can prep them the night before, then keep them in the fridge until you are ready to bake them. And nobody needs to be the wiser. Let them think you slaved away. But really, who the heck gets up 3-4 hours ahead of time to make these fresh? I enjoy my sleep way too much for that.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12

Dough:
1 cup milk, warm
2 TB sugar
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 envelope)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Filling:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 TB cinnamon (I like Saigon best)
Icing:
4oz cream cheese, softened
4 TB butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. Make sure the milk is warm but not hot. Mix with the 2 TB sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, sprinkle the yeast over the top and let it sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Mix in the sugar, melted butter, eggs, salt, and flour. Mix over medium speed until the dough is smooth, elastic, and coming off the sides of the bowl to form a ball. It will still be a little sticky.

2. Spray a large mixing bowl with cooking spray. Remove dough from mixer, kneading once or twice, and scraping to form a ball shape. Transfer to sprayed bowl, and lightly cover. Set aside in a warmer area to rise until roughly doubled in size, about 2 hours.

3. Punch dough down, and turn out onto a well floured surface. Roll it out into a rectangle until the dough is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick, about 10x20 in size.

4. Make filling: mix the brown sugar with the salt and cinnamon. Soften the butter until it is almost melted, but still solid form. Spread the butter over the entire surface of the dough rectangle and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mix over the butter. Use the rolling pin to gently press the sugar into the butter. Then, starting at the top of the dough, slowly roll it toward you, getting it as tightly rolled as possible to form a giant log. Pinch the seam to seal.

5. Spay a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Slice the dough into 12 even rounds and lay in the pan, reforming if needed. At this point, you can tightly cover and keep in the refrigerator up to 18 hours. Or you can let them sit for the second rise and bake right away.

6. Allow rolls to sit at room temperature for ~30 minutes to rise a second time. Heat oven to 375 and bake until golden brown, about 22 minutes.

7. Make icing by beating powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over hot cinnamon rolls and serve.

Bake It: Cranberry Orange Scones

This is not a "healthified" recipe. It is, however, a good one. I have a healthier version I will share another day (when I get back on the healthier-only wagon). But these taste better. And it is the holiday season, which means I am reveling in butter and sugar filled glory.

It took several tries for me to get scones right, and now that I have it down, I am passing my findings on to you. Scones are incredibly easy to make once you know the trick, and are awesome hot out of the oven.

Want to know the other awesome thing about scones? They freeze perfectly. I always make the dough then put them straight into the freezer. Once frozen, I keep them in a zip lock bag, then pop them straight from the freezer into the oven whenever I have a hankering. Suckers think I was baking all morning.

This is my favorite flavor combo, but this recipe is easily adaptable to other flavors (blueberry, lemon, chocolate chip, ginger peach, and on and on).

Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Scones
Makes 12

3 cups plus 2 TB flour
1/3 cup plus 2 TB sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 TB orange zest (from 1-2 oranges)
1 1/2 (3/4 cup) sticks butter, cold
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 cup cold buttermilk (or sub with 1 cup milk mixed with 1 TB apple cider vinegar)
turbinado sugar for topping, if desired

1. Roughly chop the cranberries and toss with the 2 TB flour and the 2 TB sugar. Set aside.

2. Cut your butter into chunks and put onto a plate. You are going to want this really really cold, so what I do is put the plate of butter in the freezer while I do the next steps. Then I take it out right before I am ready to add it.

3. In a food processor fitted with the regular blade, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and orange zest. Pulse briefly to blend. If you don't have a food processor, just do this step in a large bowl.

4. Add the cold butter chunks, and pulse in short spurts until the mixture resembles pea gravel or coarse corn meal. Do not over mix! Place mixture in a large bowl. If you are not using a food processor, then use your fingers to break up the butter pieces and rub the flour into the butter until you get the coarse meal texture. Again, do not over mix or let the butter get too warm. This should not be "doughy" at all. More like coarse flour.

5. Stir in the cranberries. Lastly, add the buttermilk, barely barely barely mixing it in...you seriously barely want to combine this. The less you touch this, the flakier and fluffier your scones will be. Knead once or twice and turn dough out onto a floured surface, using your hands to shape into a rectangle (about 8x10"). Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar, if desired. Use a knife to cut dough into 12 triangles. At this point you can freeze these and bake them whenever. Or you can go ahead and bake them.

6. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or cooking spray at 375 for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm.

Family Breakfast: Crunchy French Toast

In my younger days one of my favorite things to do was go out in the city with my friend, Alison, and then stay at her apartment for the night. She lived right next door to one of my most favorite breakfast spots ever, Wishbone. No matter what shape I was in that morning, I made sure to get my act together enough to get my breakfast fix.

I am not going out much these days, but I can still take a walk down memory lane by recreating those breakfast at home (and taking the cals and fat down a notch!).

This french toast is actually what Alison would usually get...I was more of a savory girl. But don't worry, she shared.

Crunchy French Toast
Makes 4 servings
260 cals / 5g fat / 40g carbs / 15g protein

8 slices bread
1 1/2 cup corn flakes (or some cereal like that)
1 1/2 cup skim milk
2 egg
1 egg white
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt


1. Place cereal in a zip loc bag and crush the flakes into small crumbs. Spread crumbs on a plate.

2. In a medium size bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until well mixed and frothy. Cut each piece of bread in half, diagonally.

3. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and spray generously with cooking spray (or just go ahead and use butter). Soak a piece of bread in egg mixture and then gently press each side into cereal crumbs to coat. Cook each piece of bread in skillet until golden, then re-spray skillet to cook the opposite side, again until golden. About 2-4 min per side. Repeat with remaining bread. Serve with syrup (and bacon).

 

Family Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal

This is a breakfast I typically reserve for the weekends. It is simple to put together, but takes some time to bake, and time is something we seem to run out of on the weekdays. But for some reason (like L waking up at 4:30 after an "accident" an then coming into our bed, but instead if going back to sleep, laying there and talking about hotel breakfasts while petting my hair) I woke up with some time to spare and a need for a nice warm cozy breakfast.

There are so many variations you can make with this, but apple cinnamon is our favorite. In fact, this is a recipe my Dad asked me to teach my Mom...a big risk for him, 'cause now she knows I win the "who's the best cook" bump off! (just kidding Mom)

As far as variations go, you can substitute any fruit you want. I have made apple, pear cranberry, banana, blueberry, walnut chocolate chip banana, etc. It really is whatever suits your fancy. You can change up the sweetener as well, I have used brown sugar, maple syrup, lite syrup, white sugar, and a Splenda/brown sugar mix. Also, this recipe easily doubles to fit in a 13x9 pan.

And it helps to have some awesome mixers.

Baked Oatmeal
Serves 6
150 cals / 4g fat / 25g carbs / 4g protein

2 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into tiny pieces (or whatever fruit you want)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 TB butter, melted
1 cup plain old fashioned oats
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup fat-free milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar (or whatever you want to use)

Pre-heat oven to 375 and spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. In a small microwave safe bowl, combine apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter. Microwave for 1-2 minutes to begin to soften apples (you can skip this step if you are using a soft fruit like bananas or berries). Spread fruit out in bottom of the dish. In the same bowl (cause I am lazy and don't like to dirty more dishes than I need to), combine oats, salt, and baking powder. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Then using the same bowl, combine the milk, egg, sugar, and vanilla, mixing until well blended. Pour this over the top of the oats and bake until top is browned, 35-45 min.