Sticky Quickies

Kids are finally back in school.  Hot coffee.  Warm puppy next to me. Quiet.

It’s wonderful.

But in the back of my head I know I should get up and go EXERCISE.

It’s so hard.  I want to eat.

Sigh.

So, in honor of not bailing on several of my 101 Goals for 2012 in just the first week of January, I just poured myself a protein shake and I will blog about one of my family’s favorite breakfast treats.  Sticky Quickies.  If I can’t eat it, I might as well dream about it.....right? 

I got this recipe from my good friend years ago.  I usually save it for company or holidays not because they are hard to make, but because they are so gooey good in your tummy, but not quite as good stuck to your behind and thighs. 

My friend noted on the recipe that “you’ll never slave over cinnamon rolls again” and that “they remind her husband of sex.”  She was right.  I have never made cinnamon rolls since and somehow the word “quickie” in a recipe is never overlooked by my husband either. 

*Note:  You will just have to deal with the pictures.  Try as I might, I cannot seem to get the full caramely, sticky, gooey, delightfulness, to present well in a photograph.  You will just have to trust me on this one.

Sticky Quickies

Ingredients:

·       1 1/2 cup flour

·        2 pkgs rapid rise yeast

·        ¾ cup milk

·        ½ cup water

·        ¼ cup margarine or butter

·        ¼ cup sugar

·        1 tsp. salt

·        1 egg

·        1 ¾ cup flour

Topping:

·        ¾ margarine

·        1 cup brown sugar

·        1 tsp. cinnamon

·        5 Tbls. White syrup

·        1 Tbls. Water

·        ¾ cup chopped nuts (optional....I don’t use them.)

Combine in a large bowl 1 ½ cup flour and yeast.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, margarine, sugar, & salt, till warm.  Pour into yeast and flour; add egg.  Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Stir in the remaining 1 ¾ cup flour by hand.  Dough will be sticky and look like this.  

Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Combine topping ingredients in saucepan.  Heat until melted.  Pour this into a 9 x 13 casserole pan.  Stir down the batter when it is finished rising & drop by large tablespoons onto topping. (Like this...about 5 or 6 rows of 4)

Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.   Cool one minute, then invert onto serving tray. (I use a cookie sheet with sides.) 

I also serve with a powdered sugar/milk/drop of vanilla drizzle for those in my family who like that….EVERYONE.

So, there it is.  Make it.  You’ll love it.  I promise.  Now I am off to go on a run!  Oh wait!  No way could I end this post without the picture that my husband decided to "stage"....because he was sure he could get a better photo than I could.  Thanks Honey!  Gotta love you!

Baked French Toast - Breakfast for Swimming Champions

It’s no secret that I am SUPER proud of my two oldest girlies and the fantastically awesome effort they put forth for the Yokota Stingrays swim team.  But I am also SUPER excited to announce that my youngest girlie had the chance to swim this past weekend at our home swim meet.  Yay Amber!!!!

She swam the 50 meter back stroke in one minute and twenty-two seconds, and although she didn’t win any medals or ribbons, she was just excited to swim……

Just like her big sisters do.

And since the girls burn about a zillion calories during a swim meet, I have to carb load them with something yummy for breakfast.  It is fast and easy and you can make A LOT if you need to.

 This recipe works well with any kind of bread, but a nice French bread or sourdough is perfect if you want to be fancy.  I am not feeling that fancy at 5:30am, making sure everyone has swim caps and goggles, so this time I just used a left over baguette from dinner the night before.  It made perfect little dippers.  (Normally though, I use Wonder Bread…like a bad mom…who doesn’t make her kids eat whole wheat bread like I should.)

Baked French Toast

(recipe adapted from http://www.cooks.com/)

Ingredients:

·        1/4 cup butter

·        4 eggs

·        2/3 cup milk

·        1/3 cup sugar

·        1 tsp cinnamon

·        8 slices of bread (more or less depending on the kind of bread)

Turn oven to 400 degrees.  Melt butter in a 10 x 15 pan while the oven is pre-heating.  Mix sugar and cinnamon.  Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle sugar cinnamon mixture evenly into the pan.  Mix the eggs and milk.  Dip the bread into the liquid mixture and then lay it on top of the buttery sugar.  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until bread begins to brown. (I usually go about 15.)  Lift out sugar side up onto a serving platter.  Serve with warm maple syrup and powdered sugar…or whatever French toast toppings you love!

Then, you better go swimming to work those calories off!

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Baked Sugar Donut Muffins

Just a lazy long labor day weekend here at our house.  The girlies wanted me to slave over some cinnamon rolls. I had to think about that one for exactly a nano-second…….NO.

So as not to make the poor starving babies think that I don’t love them, I whipped up some of these little sugared cuties. 

Much much easier than sweating over cinnamon rolls and much much healthier than fried Homemade Donuts, they were a hit!  The ones pictured here are covered with plain white sugar, but cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar are good too.
 



Sugar Donut Muffins

(recipe adapted from Baking Bites)

 



3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)

2 tsp melted butter

1 tsp vanilla                                                                                                     
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.  In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.   In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.  Divide batter evenly into a mini-muffin pan. (Recipe will also fill about 10 regular muffin cups ¾ full.) Bake for 15 to 18 minutes.  When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from pan, and roll around in remaining sugar.  
   

Makes 24 mini-muffins.

Looks good, no?  Okay then, how about dipped in vanilla icing?

Jelly Breakfast Tarts

After eating one of these golden flaky treats you will never again allow a store-bought, cardboard flavored, sugar-coated pop tart, pass your lips again.


It’s like eating pie for breakfast, but better.

 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tablespoons cold shortening cut into small pieces
• 2 sticks cold butter cut into small pieces
• ½ cup ice water
• ½ cup of jelly….whatever kind you like. (I also used Nutella for the chocolate lover in my house.)
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup milk
• Powdered sugar, milk, and drop of vanilla (for simple icing)
• Sprinkles (opt.)

Step one: In a bowl combine flour, sugar, and salt. (I used my mixer, but you can also use a food processor or just do it by hand.) Add shortening and about one-quarter of the butter, mixing until it is blended with the flour. Add the remaining butter and mix until you have a course meal with pea sized bits of butter. (This is what makes your pastry flaky.)





Add 1/2 cup ice water and mix until dough just comes together. Turn the dough onto plastic wrap, form into a disc, and wrap tightly. Chill for at least one hour. If you really want to be sneaky, use refrigerated pie crust and skip making your own crust altogether. (This is good crust though….trust me.)


Step two: On a lightly floured surface roll the dough out to 1/8 of an inch thick. (thin) Cut out circles or rectangles using a pastry press or pairing knife.





I used a Pampered Chef Cut-N-Seal but these Toaster Pastry Presses from Williams Sonoma are soooo going on my Christmas list. You can also use a paring knife. Set your cut-outs on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill for 30 minutes.


Step Three: Spread half of the dough shapes with a heaping tablespoon jelly or jam leaving a ½ inch around for the border. (My strawberry jelly was sort of runny....and yes, that is the Nutella.)





Brush the egg onto the edges and cover with the remaining dough cutouts. Crimp the edges with your pastry press or use a fork.





Step four: Bake the tarts until flaky and golden, 20 to 25 minutes, brushing with the milk after 10 minutes. Cool for 1O minutes.


Step five: Mix up a quick batch of simple icing by mixing some 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 or 3 tablespoons milk, and a drop of pure vanilla. Mix to desired consistency and drizzle tart with icing. Decorate with sprinkles or colored sugars to dress them up a bit.





Serve with a big glass of milk.





Recipe adapted from the Food Network Magazine, September 2011

It's Time For You To Make The Donuts

Last weekend I thought I had completely lost my mind.

I made donuts.

Completely from scratch.

Dough rolling, donut cutter cutting, oil heating, slotted spoon dipping, powdered sugaring and frosting…….donuts.

Turns out, it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

If you haven’t done this before, you really should.  It is something the kids are going to remember long after you are dead…..and I mean that in a good way.  They will smile and reminisce at your funeral…. “Remember that time Mom made us homemade donuts for breakfast one random Saturday morning?”

Preparing homemade donuts for your children will make your sons seek out fantastic women to marry, and turn your daughters into the most magnificent mommies.

It is just the simple, magical fact, as the kids lick powdered sugar off of their adorable lips and your husband winks lovingly as he bites into a warm blissful ring, that you created it……not Crispy Crème.

Wanna know how??  Put on a ruffled apron and spread a gingham table cloth on the table.  Here it is……

Homemade Donuts

 

INGREDIENTS

·        3 ½ cups all-purpose flower

·        1 Tbsp. baking powder

·        1 tsp. ground cinnamon

·        ¾ tsp. salt

·        1/3 cup milk

·        ½ cup butter, melted

·        4 eggs, beaten

·        2/3 cups sugar

·        Oil for deep-fat frying (I used a mix of peanut and vegetable)

·        Cinnamon, Sugar, Powdered Sugar, or Frosting for topping

1.     In a bowl combine, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, & nutmeg.  In another bowl combine milk and melted butter.  In another large bowl combine eggs and sugar and beat with electric mixer until thick (about 5 minutes).  Add the milk mixture and then stir.  Add flour mixture and stir until smooth.  Cover dough and chill for 2 hours.   Dough will remain slightly sticky.

2.     Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.  Roll to ½ inch thickness.  Cut dough with donut cutter.  (If you don’t have a cutter you could use two different sizes of circles….very small for the holes of course.  Make life easier for yourself and go buy a donut cutter.  They make cute cookie wreaths for Christmas too.)

3.     Heat oil to 325 to 375 F.  I put oil in a stockpot about 2 inches deep.  Heat donuts 2 or 3 at a time. Turn each donut about halfway through with a slotted spoon.  Remove from oil when brown, and drain on paper towels.  Repeat with remaining donuts and holes.

4.     You can shake the donuts in powdered sugar, cinnamon and sugar, or frost them.  I had green frosting from my daughter’s birthday cake leftover.  (Don’t judge me.  Yes I ate birthday cake the night before I made donuts.  It was grand.)  They aren't perfectly frosted.  Sorry.

Don’t forget the holes!!!!

I am not going to lie.  Making homemade donuts is a bit of work.  It is a big mess and makes your house smell like a giant Fry Daddy.  Trust me though.  Turn on your fan, open your windows and make the donuts.  It will change your life forever.