Pancaaaakes!!! ^^

Want a super quick and easy breakfast that will get the entire family's tummys rumbling?  The secret is...pancakes!  Who can resist a stack of fluffy, fresh-off-the-stove pancakes?  The best part is you don't have to spend all morning slaving over a hot stove.  In fact, enjoy a cup of coffee while you're working your magic, ^^.

If plain pancakes are too boring for your taste, no problem!  Just slice up a few bananas and throw it on top each dollop of batter as it's cooking.  If you don't care too much for bananas or want different types of pancakes just put your choice of fruits, chocolate, or what have you on each pancake.  It's a good thing this recipe makes about 15 pancakes, because you're guaranteed to have seconds, =).

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

If you know me, you'll know that I'm not a huge fan of baking things from box mix.  I guess it's because I like to get down and dirty with the ingredients and shake things up.  But sometimes, if I need to whip something up last minute I'll grab a box of cake mix from the pantry (emergency stash, ^^).  This time it was for a meeting that was in a few hours and it was also our co-worker's birthday.

I baked the cupcakes according to the directions.  To give them some character, I spiraled the frosting onto the tops and sprinkled unsweetened cocoa powder over each one.  It was a sold out crowd, =).

Having at least 2 boxes of emergency cake mix comes in handy.  That way you have something quick and easy to make if you ever need to.  Plus, it's something everyone will enjoy.

Blueberry Lemon Muffin Recipe

INGREDIENTS

 

1/3 Cup  Milk

1/4 Cup  Canola or Vegetable Oil

1 Container (6 oz) Yoplait Blueberry Yogurt

1  Egg

1 3/4 Cups  All-purpose Flour

1/4 Cup  Sugar

1 Tbsp  Lemon Zest

1 Tbsp  Lemon Juice

2 1/2 Tsp  Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

3/4 Cup  Fresh Blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line muffin pan with paper baking cups.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, yogurt and egg.  Stir in remaining ingredients except blueberries, until flour is moistened.  Gently stir in blueberries, and divide batter evenly among cups.

3. Baking 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Blueberry Lemon Muffin

There was a point last year when I would bake muffins and cupcakes galore, lol.  I was also working somewhere that had these really tasty and moist Blueberry Lemon Loaf, but all of a sudden the company stopped selling them!! =(  So I decided to get my blueberry lemon fix by changing up a muffin recipe I had on hand.  All I did was toss some lemon juice and zest into the mixture to produce a batch of citrus-y blueberry muffins.  The verdict...not bad, considering that I wasn't sure what I was doing, ^^.  I think next time I will switch out the Greek yogurt for regular blueberry yogurt to give it a more pronounced berry taste.  The texture was on point with just the right amount of moisture so it wouldn't crumble all over the place.  Pair it with a bowl of fruit and you have yourself and pretty darn good breakfast.

Cornbread like my momma makes it =)

This amazing cornbread goes great with my Simply Chili recipe (posted earlier).  It's so quick and easy that you can whip it up for a last minute party.  You'll be the highlight of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or any day.  If you need a simple gift idea, you can get a jar and fill it with the dry ingredients and include the entire recipe on a ribbon.

INGREDIENTS

2  Eggs

1 Cup  Sugar

1 Cup  Cornmeal

1 1/2 Sticks  Butter

2 Cups  Bisquick

1 Cup  Milk

DIRECTIONS

 

1. In a large bowl cream Butter and Sugar.

2. Add eggs; mix well.  Add Bisquick and Cornmeal until combined.  Then mix in Milk.

3. Butter and cornmeal a 9x13 inch pan, and pour mixture in.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Simple right!?  Enjoy, ^^.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins Recipe

INGREDIENTS

 

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

1/4 Cup  All-purpose flour

2 Tblsp  Packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp  Ground cinnamon

2 Tblsp  Firm butter or margarine

Muffins

1/4 tsp  Ground cinnamon

1 Cup  Milk

1/4 Cup Vegetable oil

1 tsp  Vanilla

1  Egg

2 Cups  All-purpose flour

1/3 Cup  Granulated sugar

3 tsp  Baking powder

1 Cup  Fresh or canned (drained) blueberries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.  In medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Cut in butter using pastry blender until crumbly.  If you don't have a pastry blender, pull two butter knives through mixture in opposite directions.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, vanilla and egg until well blended.  Stir in 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar and baking powder all at once just until flour in moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Gently stir in blueberries.  Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  Sprinkle each with about 2 teaspoons of streusel topping.

3. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately remove from pan to cooling rack.  Serve warm or cool.

This recipe makes 12 scrumptious muffins for you to share with your friends and family...or yourself, ^^.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Last night I had several friends over for a wine and cheese night.  So, I decided to be fancy and made a double tomato bruschetta, artichoke and garlic bruschetta and millionaire's shortbread. The company was awesome and the hors d'oeuvers were delicious. The millionaire's shortbread....not so much, lol. I think it was because we cooked the caramel layer way too long, making it too thick and chewy instead of the creamy and smooth like it's supposed to be :9. Well, I was so disappointed with the way it came out that I whipped up a batch of blueberry streusel muffins this morning to redeem myself.

Success, ^^!!  In just 30 minutes I had a dozen delicious muffins ready for the eating.  These muffins are great for breakfast, snack time or dessert!  The fresh blueberries were bursting with flavor, and the streusel topping brought sweet notes to the tasty treat.  Don't have blueberries??  That's okay.  The great thing about this recipe is that you can use any berry or fruit you have on hand, ^^.  Mixed berries, bananas, peaches...all will go beautifully in these muffins.  Just make sure to have enough ingredients for another batch, because they'll go fast!