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Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

I have a couple waffle secrets to share with you.

Because I like you and my obsessive food geek research should be of some use to someone other than me.

Carbonation. This isn’t a closely held secret, it’s been used for years to make tempura batter light and pancakes rise a bit higher. Lucky of us, beer is a wealth of carbonation with a little kick of yeast for good measure.

For the beer, look for something with a nice level of carbonation and more malt than hops (think brown ale flavor rather than IPA hoppiness). For best results with your carbonation secret, make sure the carbonated liquid (even if you decide to forgo the beer and use seltzer water) is ice cold.

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

Cornstarch. This one came from well respected recipe developer Pam Anderson (no Baywatch jokes please, she’s heard ’em all). I’ve long been a fan of how cornstarch thickens my sauces, adds amazing texture to chocolate chip cookies, as well as keeps my beer cheese sauce velvety and prevents it from separating, now we have a new reason to stock the cabinets with this magical secret ingredient. It makes your waffles crisp on the outside while the inside stays light and tender.

 Meringue (egg whites PLUS sugar). Whipping egg whites separate from the batter and folding them in has long been a staple of the perfect waffle. If you don’t take the time for this extra step you’re just making pancake batter.

Which results in soggy dense waffles, so you might as well just make pancakes. As I’m sure you’ve noticed egg whites deflate in seconds, meringue doesn’t. Add some sugar to those whipped whites and you’ll have something that holds up.

Oven resting. If you’re making breakfast for a crowd there is a good chance there will be a long delay between the first waffle being born and the last. Preheat the oven to 200, add the cooked waffles to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven while you finish making the feast. It will also help to keep the waffles crisp.

There you go, all the beer-geek-waffle-knowledge you can handle on a Monday morning. Now go out there, open a beer, and make yourself some crispy waffles.

Peanut Butter Belgian Ale Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup + Four Secrets to the Perfect Waffles

For the blackberry syrup I used Brombeere Blackberry Gose from Odell brewing. I love this beer, it accomplishes something very few other sours can: balance. It hits that perfect mark that gives you the beautiful funk you look for in a sour while still rounding out the flavors with a bit of malt and grain that often get lost with wild ales.

You can taste the berries nicely but it’s dry rather than sweet, giving it an insane drinkability.

Peanut Butter Stout Waffles with Blackberry Gose Syrup

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

Syrup

  • 2 cups 230g frozen blackberries
  • 1 cup 200g sugar
  • 12 ounces sour ale gose, lambic, wild ale, Flanders

Waffles:

  • 1 ¾ 210g cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup 100g sugar, divided
  • 2 tsp 8g baking powder
  • 1 tsp 4g baking soda
  • ½ 3g tsp salt
  • 2 tbs 1 oz cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup 56g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for waffle iron
  • 1/3 cup 85g creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup 240 buttermilk
  • 1 cup 226 Belgian ale beer (see note)
  • 1 tsp 4g vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs

Instructions
 

  • Add the blackberries, sugar, and sour ale to a large pot (larger than you think you’ll need, it will bubble to 4X it’s volume) and boil, stirring frequently until slightly thickened and the blackberries have broken down, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. (if jam is too thick once it has cooled add more beer and simmer until it has loosened up). Jam can be made several days in advance.
  • Preheat a waffle iron.
  • Set out three bowls, one large and two small.
  • In the large bowl stir together the flour, half the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cornstarch.
  • In one of the small bowls add the melted butter and peanut butter, stir until smooth (microwave slightly if this is difficult). Add the buttermilk, beer and vanilla, stir until well combined.
  • Separate the eggs putting the yolks to the peanut butter bowl and the whites to the third bowl. Stir the yolks into the peanut butter until well combined.
  • Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, addd the remaining sugar and continue to whip until speaks return.
  • Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the peanut butter mixture, stir until just combined. Gently fold in the egg whites.
  • Brush the waffle iron with melted butter, add the batter and cook according to manufactures specifications. Place in a 200 degree oven to keep warm until ready to serve.
  • Serve warm with syrup.

Notes

Look for a beer that is fairly malty but with some nice carbonation like an Abby ale or Farmhouse ale or a Dubbel. Stay away from IPA's or high hop beers. A malty pale ale will work as well, or a well carbonated brown ale..

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy4

Let’s pretend for a second that you’ve never had biscuits and gravy.

Like you’ve never sat in good company at a crappy diner in a small town eating sub par biscuits and gravy washing it down with shitty coffee like it’s the best breakfast you’ve ever had. Like you’ve never had someones grandma make them for you so early in the morning you could hardly keep your eyes open. Like you’ve never delayed the start of day two of a road trip just so that you could have a plate of southern comfort food from that place your friend once told you about.

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy

But we can’t do that. Because there is something about that combination of simple ingredients, done just right, that stays with us forever. The way the perfect song pouring out your car windows as you drive down a softly worn country road on a summer afternoon makes you feel like everything’s right in the world.

The food that stays with us, that comforts us, reminds us of home, is almost always simple food. It’s these dishes that are worth making, and remaking, over and over, making small adjustments that no one but us really notices, because dishes like this stay with us.

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy2

 

 

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy

Servings 6 -8 servings

Ingredients
  

For the biscuits:

  • 3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 8 tbs unsalted cold butter cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup Belgian ale or wheat beer
  • 2 tbs melted butter
  • ¼ tsp course sea salt

For the gravy:

  • 1 lb pork sausage raw, without casing
  • ¼ cup finely chopped white onion
  • 1 tbs butter
  • 6 tbs flour
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup stout
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Optional

  • 4 large eggs fried

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • In a processor add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and rosemary.
  • Pulse to combine. Add the cold butter, process until well combined. Add to a large bowl.
  • Add the buttermilk and beer. Mix with a fork until just combined.
  • Add to a well-floured flat surface, pat into a rectangle. Using a cold rolling pin (preferably marble) gently roll into a large rectangle, about 1 inch in thickness, using as few strokes as possible.
  • Fold the dough into thirds as you would a letter about to go into an envelope. Roll lightly, once in each direction to about 1 inch thickness, fold in thirds again. Gently roll into about 1 1/2 inch thickness (this will give you the flakey layers).
  • Using a biscuit cutter cut out 6 to 8 biscuits. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Brush biscuits with melted butter, sprinkle salt.
  • Bake at 400 for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.
  • To make the gravy add the sausage to a pan over medium high heat. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until browned. Add the onions and butter, stirring and cooking until onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with flour. Whisk until flour is well combined. Cook until flour has browned. Add the milk, stout, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cook until thickened, about 8 minutes.
  • Top the biscuits with gravy and fried eggs, if desired.

A HUGE Thank You to my Facebook Fans who suggested I work on a Beer Biscuits and Gravy recipe. You guys are always an inspiration.

Rosemary Beer Biscuits with Stout Sausage Gravy3

Leftover Turkey Frittata Recipe

Leftover Turkey Frittata Recipe2

 

Thanksgiving leftovers are a funny beast.

We spend weeks crafting a menu, days of prep, countless hours of cooking and then freak out about what to do with it all the next day. I do that same thing, even though leftovers on their own are fantastic. Maybe it’s because, even after hours and days and weeks of prep, we still feel "lazy" just reheating the tupperware containers and setting it out on the table.

Even though I will chow down on cold beer brined turkey and left over dinner rolls in those post dawn hours, it’s still not hyper socially expectable to serve mashed potatoes and leftover turkey for breakfast. But throw some chopped up rolls and a few handfuls of turkey into a skillet with some eggs and you’ve got brunch.

And you should serve it with a mimosa, you’ve earned it

Leftover Turkey Frittata Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 tbs butter
  • 2 cups bread cut into cubes (leftover dinner rolls work well)
  • 1 cup turkey, cut into cubes
  • ½ red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 6 eggs
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup green onion, chopped

    Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 400.
  2. Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
  3. Add the bell peppers, cook until softened.
  4. Add the bread cubes, cooking until browned.
  5. Add the turkey, toss to coat.
  6. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sour cream, salt and pepper.
  7. Pour into the skillet, sprinkle with green onions.
  8. Cook undisturbed until the sides have set, about 5 minutes.
  9. Bake at 400 until until center has set, about 12 minutes.

Leftover Turkey Frittata Recipe

 

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme! 

Sur La Table giveaway

If you are a coffee drinker, you need to get a French press. This is the best way to make coffee at home, and it doesn’t get any easier. You get an amazing coffee-house flavor, and it doesn’t even need electricity. I fell in love with French press coffee in Europe and I’ve used them ever since.

This gorgeous version from Le Creuset is available at Sur La Table, and as I’ve told you before, I’m a huge fan of Sur La Table.

For a gorgeous, thoughtfully stocked, kitchen store, their prices are outstanding (remember that marble rolling board? Shockingly inexpensive!) and the store has everything I’m looking for, I’d take this over shoe shopping any day (ok, most days).

Sur La Table and I are giving away this fabulous Le Creuset French Press (that I adore) and some amazing Sarahbeth’s Peach Apricot jam that has quickly become a favorite of mine. The ingredients are amazingly simple: sugar, water, peaches, apricots. The simplicity of the recipe puts the focus on the amazing fruit. Try turning over the jar of jam at your local super market and you’ll know why I’m so thrilled with this jam. Most commercial jam is full of dozens of unpronounceable ingredients, and even food dye (why the heck does my apricot jam need to be oranger?!). Sarahbeth’s jam is amazing, I’m a fan of the honest ingredients and incredibly huge flavors of real life fruit.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers4

Because this jam is so gorgeously simple, I wanted a recipe that was simple as well. Something easy to throw together for your Mothers Day brunch, but that will show off that fabulous jam.

Just roll out a sheet of puff pastry and cut it into squares.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers5

Fill those squares with a little sweetened cream cheese and jam (the stuff that breakfast dreams are made of).

Peaches and Cream Turnovers6

Seal it up to keep all the good stuff inside.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers7

Brush it will a glaze made from jam and a little water to thin it.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers8

Bake it to golden brown perfection.

Peaches and Cream Turnovers

Apricot Peaches and Cream Turnovers

Yield: Yield: 6 Pastries

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
  • ¼ cup Apricot jam
  • 2 tbs jam plus 1 tbs water for glaze
  • pearl or sanding sugar (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and the powdered sugar, set aside.
  3. Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 6 equal sized squares.
  4. Add 1 tablespoon sweetened cream cheese towards one corner of the squares, leaving about ½ inch edge empty. Top with 1 tablespoon jam.
  5. Moisten the edges with water, fold the puff pastry over into a triangle.
  6. Use a fork to seal the edges, transfer to a baking sheet that has been covered with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  7. In a small bowl, wisk together the 2 tbs jam and 1 tbs water. Brush each pastry with the glaze, sprinkle with pearl or sanding sugar if desired.
  8. Bake at 400 for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

 

Le Creuset Giveaway

In honor of moms everywhere, and the upcoming Mothers Day holiday, I’m hosting some giveaways this week with a Mothers Day brunch theme!

To kick us off is Le Creuset with a gorgeous cake stand (I love cake stands) that is perfect for a cake, pie, cookies, lets be honest, I’d serve roast chicken off this thing, it’s gorgeous! But not just that, we are also throwing in some beautiful French preserves by Bonne Maman. The winner also gets four jars in fabulous flavors like Fig, Strawberry and Golden Mirabelle. I love that these are jams that have simple, honest ingredients, jam like your Grandmother would have made in her own kitchen, with the fruit from her trees.

To celebrate these gorgeous jams, I wanted to give you a recipe that works well with all the great flavors. Of course, I looked to Martha, a woman who is no stranger to French jams. I adapted her amazing crumb cake recipe for the use of these jams, making it three times to get it just right. I love this so much, and I love that it works with all of these fabulous jams.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake2

The winner will receive: One cherry red Le Creuset cake stand, four jars of French Bonne Maman preserves, shipped anywhere in the continental USA, you can even have it shipped directly to your mom! Or keep it for yourself, I won’t judge.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the topping:

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup Jam
  • 1 ¾ cups flour
  • ½ cup packed light-brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
  • Confectioners sugar for dusting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325
  2. line 8X8 pan with aluminum foil, spray with butter cooking spray, set aside.
  3. Stir together 1 ¼ cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla and vegetable oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, batter will be thick.
  4. Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared f baking pan.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar. Spread evenly on top of the batter.
  6. Drizzle with the jam (marble in with a knife, if desired).
  7. Combine the remaining 1 ¾ cup flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Drizzle with melted butter, stir together until crumbs form.
  8. Bake at 325 for 32-36 minutes or until the top crumbs have just started to turn golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature, chill until ready to use. Cut into squares and dust with confectioners sugar prior to serving.

Cream Cheese and Jam Crumb Cake3

 

BLT Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise


BLT Eggs Benedict wtih Avocado Hollindaise_

I’m a breakfast girl. I’m also an avocado girl. So when California Avocado Commission asked me something along the lines of: "Hey Jackie, wanna come to a fancy schmany Beverly Hills restaurant and have a schmancy chef make you Breakfast For Dinner? Oh and you get to make cocktails with avocados," My answer didn’t require much debate.

Schamncy Chef Neal did an outstanding job feeding Los Angeles bloggers an array of Avocado Breakfast foods. They even sent us home with a goodie bag that included a bag of avocados and a cutting board. AND if that doesn’t sound great to you, you’re probably not a food blogger. We seem to have an unreasonable affinity for bags of produce and cutting boards.

I also have a great love of the Eggs Benedict (I’m probably an old man, given the love I also have for stout beer and cable knits) but after waitressing my way through college, working the early shift at a breakfast joint, I’ll never be able to eat hollandaise at a restaurant (if you read this book, you’ll also know why). Because of these two things, I tend to make it myself about once a month. Add the creaminess of an avocado and I’ll lick it right out of the blender and don’t you try and stop me.

BLT Eggs Benedict with Avocado Hollandaise

Ingredients

  • 1 large ripe California avocado, diced
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3 tbs butter
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • pinch each of salt, pepper and cayenne
  • 4 English muffins, split and toasted
  • 8 slices tomatoes
  • ½ cup baby arugula
  • 8 strips bacon, cooked
  • 8 eggs, poached
  • Yield 8 (4 to 8 servings depending on serving preference)

Instructions

  1. Add the diced avocado to a blender or food processor, process until smooth.
  2. Add the egg yolks and process until well combined.
  3. Heat the butter in a microwave safe bowl until very hot.
  4. While the food processor is running, slowly add the melted butter until well combined. Add the lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne, process to combine.
  5. Add the English muffins to a plate, cut sides up. Top each half with a slice of tomato, a few leaves of arugula, bacon, and a poached egg.
  6. Spoon avocado hollandaise over eggs. Serve immediately.

BLT Eggs Benedict wtih Avocado Hollindaise 2

Pumpkin Ale Waffles & How To Roast A Pumpkin

 Although most of you are in the giddy early stages of fall, here in Los Angeles it’s still over 90 degrees. So what the rest of the country is referring to as "Fall," I am calling Pumpkin Season. And to curb my near constant urge to shove as much pumpkin into everything I consume, I have elected to only make pumpkin from scratch, no cans.

It’s only really helped a little. It’s pretty easy to roast a pumpkin and turn it into massive quantities of pumpkin treats.

If you haven’t roasted your own, don’t be intimidated, its pretty simple.

Start with a pie pumpkin. They go by various other names, but they are not Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins used for carving. They are small, about the size of a cantaloupe.

Preheat oven to 375.

Remove the stem by running a butter knife around the edges and then prying it off. The most stubborn one I removed by whacking it on the edge of the counter. Popped right off.

Cut the pumpkin in half, right through the hole left by the stem.

Scoop the seeds out with a spoon.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place pumpkins on baking sheets, cover tightly with aluminum foil. Roast at 375 for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until a fork can easily slide into the skin.

 Allow to cool and sccop the flesh out.

For a smoother texture, process in a food processor for about 3 minutes.

See, that’s not so hard. You can totally do that.

Pumpkin Ale Waffles

Ingredients
  

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 eggs divided
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 1 cup Pumpkin Ale

(Makes 6 to 8)

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat waffle iron.
    • Get out three bowls.
    • In the largest bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking power, baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon, stir until well combined.
    • Divide the eggs between the last two bowls, egg whites in one, yolks in the other.
    • In the yolks bowl, add the milk and pumpkin puree, stir until well combined. Add the melted butter and stir.
    • Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, about 4 minutes.
    • Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just combined, don't over mix. Add the beer and stir until combined. Gently fold in the egg whites.
    • Spray waffle iron with butter flavored cooking spray. Cook waffles according to manufactures directions.

     

     

    Brownie Waffles

    I can’t decide if I’ve been obsessed with Dessert for Breakfast or if it’s really an obsession with Breakfast for Dessert.

     

    Well, you say, it depends on what time of day said meal is being consumed. Although if this dessert/breakfast hybrid is eating all day long, the lines get a little blurred.

    Now that I’ve shared with you my Pecan Pie French Toast, and Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes now I throw these Brownie Waffles at you.

    I figured out that although I eat pretty well most of the week, I let myself eat whatever I want at my Saturday morning breakfast, making me want to get the most bang for my bite. Hence, breakfast and dessert crammed into one plate. I hope you don’t mind too much.

    And if you want to get craaaazy, go ahead and top this with vanilla ice cream. And sprinkle it with bacon. But make sure and invite me over.

    Brownie Waffles

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup flour
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
    • 1 cup milk (divided in half)
    • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 eggs, divided
    • 1/4 cup sugar

    Instructions

    1. Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications.
    2. Get out three bowls.
    3. In the largest bowl, add the flour, baking powder,cocoa powder, and salt, stir.
    4. In a microwave safe bowl, add the chocolate chips and 1/2 cup milk. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Add the remaining milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and only the yolks of the two eggs.
    5. Add the whites to the third bowl, along with the sugar. Whip with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes.
    6. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the chocolate milk mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold into the egg whites until just incorporated.
    7. Cook in waffle iron according to manufacturers specifications, using butter flavored cooking spray if indicated.
    8. And I recommend topping with whipped cream, or ice cream, or frosting, or chocolate chips, or all of it.

    Apple Ring Pancakes

    As a kid there were a few phrases that take an ordinary day and give it a bit of a sparkle. Like hearing the name of YOUR school being read over the radio as a closure for a Snow Day. Or hearing: "Let’s go get ice cream!" or, one of my favorites: "Breakfast For Dinner!!" 

    And now that I am a mom, I want to have breakfast for dinner too. It’s fun. But then I have the responsibility of an entire humans future health on my hands. That’s a lot of pressure. The way I reconcile these two things is by taking an ordinary pancake and filling it with a slice of fruit. Breakfast for dinner and a serving of wholesome fruit. 


    These babies only have 60 calories each. And you don’t even need massive amounts of syrup, the apple in the middle has the flavor and moisture to compensate. 

    Apple Ring Pancakes

    2 large apples (I used Fuji Apples)

    1 cup of flour

    1/4 cup brown sugar

    1 tsp baking powder

    1/4 tsp nutmeg

    1 tsp cinnamon

    1/4 tsp salt

    1/4 cup reduced fat (or fat free) sour cream

    1 egg

    1/2 tsp vanilla extract

    3/4 cup sparklink water or club soda

    (yields about 20 apple ring pancakes)

    Preheat a griddle to 375, or use a large skillet. Coat with butter flavored cooking spray prior to cooking pancakes. 

    Peel and core the apples (I use this apple corer all the time). Cut the apples into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Thicker slices will give you a crispier apple once cooked and a thinner slice will give you a softer apple once cooked. 

    In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt until well mixed. In a separate bowl, add the sour cream, egg and vanilla, mix until well combined. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and stir until just barely combined. Add the sparkling water and stir. One at a time, dip the apple slices into the batter and place on the hot griddle. Allow the pancakes to cook until the edges start to look dry and then flip over, cooking on the other side until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Repeat for all apple slices. 

    You don’t need syrup for these little guys but I couldn’t resist using the last of that Coconut Caramel Sauce that I made the other day. So good. 

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    Girl Scout Samoas Waffles Recipe With Coconut Caramel Sauce

    I had a couple of crack dealers show up at my door the other day. Looking all smug in their green little uniforms, pretending to be nothing more than just innocent little children. But they knew what they were doing, trying to force me to buy their crack. Or Girl Scout cookies. Whatever. I don’t need this guy with his cartoon gun to help me choose my favorite cookie, that’s easy: Samoas.

    And you need to get creative when you have 17 boxes of cookies because you remember what it was like to try and sell stuff as a kid, and people shut their door in your face or calculated the cost per ounce and then told you it wasn’t a "good buy" as if that was the point, then once you grow up, you are a total sucker for kids selling crack. I mean cookies.

    I’ll tell you my brilliant selling strategy I used when I was a kid.

    Picture this:

    Late 1980’s, tiny, blond, innocent looking elementary school kid with huge blue eyes outside the grocery store. My target was hip looking men in their early 20’s.

    Me: "Sir, will you help us raise money for Rick Dees?"

    Him: "What happened to Rick Dees?"

    Me: "He’s in the hospital, he fell off the Top 40."

    Worked every time. They laughed and then bought cookies. Humor and crack cookies are a dangerous combination.

    Another dangerous combo? Waffles and crack cookies.

    Girl Scout Samoas Waffles With Coconut Caramel Sauce

    6 Girl Scout Samoas Cookies

    2 cups flour

    2 tsp baking powder

    1/2 tsp salt

    1 tbs sugar

    3 eggs, divided into whites and yolks

    1 3/4 cup milk

    1 tbs vegetable oil

    1 tsp vanilla extract

    Butter flavored cooking spray

    Coconut Caramel Sauce Recipe

    Preheat waffle iron.

    Roughly chop the cookies and put them in a food processor, processing until mostly crumbs are left. A few larger pieces are fine.

    You’ll need three bowls.

    On one bowl, put the cookies crumbs, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir until combined.

    in the second bowl, put the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and oil, whisk until combined.

    In the third bowl, add the egg whites and beat with a hand mixer until frothy and very light, about 4 minutes.

    Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture, stirring until just combined. Don’t over mix.

    Gently fold in the egg whites.

    Spray the inside of the waffle iron with butter flavored spray. Cook the waffles according to waffle iron specifications. 

    Top with caramel sauce, and additional Samoas crumbs if you wanna get craaaazy. 

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    Bacon Fat Biscuits

    I’m a bit of a bacon fat hoarder. I make excessive amounts of bacon on weekends, straining and storing the bacon fat that gets left behind into small containers that are now littering my fridge. 

    I have to find ways to use it. I make tortillas with bacon fat, which are delightful and this past weekend biscuits were also made in an attempt to decrease my ever-growing stash. 

    Bacon and biscuits. Saturday Breakfast Indulgence at its best. 

    Bacon Fat Biscuits 

    1 cups cake flour 

    1 cup all-purpose  

    1 tsp baking powder

    1/2 tsp baking soda 

    1/2 tsp salt

    1 tsp sugar

    5 tbs bacon fat

    2/3 buttermilk, plus an additional 1/4 cup, divided 

    1 tbs melted butter 

    Preheat oven to 450

    In a food processor, combine both types of flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Give a quick pulse until combined. Add the bacon fat and process until the flour and bacon fat are well combined and look like course crumbs. Add 2/3 cup milk and pulse until just barely combined. Add additional milk, a bit at a time until all of the dough has been dampened and pulls away from the sides of the food processor. Don’t over process or your biscuits will be tough. 

    Remove from food processor and place on a floured surface. Form into a long rectangle and cut into squares with a sharp knife. This will give you square biscuits without any waste. Since over worked dough becomes tough, "scraps" left over from cutting out round biscuits can’t really be re-rolled and used, they should be discarded. Forming the dough into a long rectangle and cutting with a sharp knife will allow you to use all the dough as biscuits without any waste. 

    Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the biscuits on the sheet. Brush with melted butter. 

    Bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. 

    Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

    I’m a breakfast girl. It isn’t possible for me to go the 16 hours between dinner and lunch the following day without eating. I become a crazy person when I’m hungry. Like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors yelling "FEED MEEE!!!" at random strangers. If I ever get stuck on a deserted island, or in a plane crash in the Andes, don’t pray for me, pray for which ever poor soul has to deal with the hungry version of me. Not pretty. Plus I just make bad decisions when I’m hungry, which results in me coming to the conclusion that an entire jumbo sized bag of Jalapeno Kettle Chips is just one snack, and it’s totally fine for me to eat the entire thing. 

    Because of this, I must eat breakfast. And besides my long standing love with Saturday Morning Breakfast indulgences, I want a super healthy breakfast 6 days a week. 

    And you are probably sick of all the quinoa, but I’m not. Not yet. It SO good for you, and if you cook it the right way, it has a great flavor and texture. Don’t cook it the same way you cook rice or it will be mushy.  

    My Morning Magical Quinoa Muffin Stats, calculated by Spark People Recipe Calorie Calculator:

    191 Calories

    3 grams of fiber

    4.3 grams of protein 

    Plus a healthy dose of Calcium, Vitamins A, B-6 & C

    Only .5 grams of the bad Saturated Fat

    Not too bad. And an easy thing to grab on your way out the door in the morning. 

    So that you can conquer the world without being a whiney and unreasonable. Or maybe that’s just me. 


    Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

    Ingredients

    • 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
    • 1/3 cup cooked quinoa (You need to cook your quinoa with 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts water, too much water makes it mushy)
    • 1/3 cup sugar
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
    • 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
    • 2 tbs raw honey
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 egg
    • 3/4 cup carrots, peeled and finely grated (place between sheets of paper towels to remove excess water)
    • 1/4 cup of raisins
    • 2 tbs chopped walnuts

    (Makes 6 muffins)

    Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350.
    2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, quinoa, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder. Make a well in the ingredients. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, apple sauce, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Stir until just barely combined, a few lumps is fine. If you over mix, your muffins will be tough. Add the carrots, raisins and walnuts and stir until just combined.
    3. Grease 6 wells of a muffin tin (or line with muffin papers). Pour evenly into the 6 wells, about 2/3 full.
    4. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.


    What To Make A Fireman For Breakfast: Beer Waffles with Amber Ale Caramel Sauce

    Firefighters are a rare beast. The perfect combination of rugged bravery and compassion driven sensitivity.  A sports watching, beer drinking guys-guy, who is also the first in line to pull a shivering puppy from a frozen river and then make a batch of tender homemade scones.

    So what do you do if you find yourself on the daylight side of a fantastic evening, eye to eye with one these hungry beasts?

    Make waffles.

    Not just any waffles, beer waffles. With beer caramel sauce.

    Somehow, it seems to be a rule that every fire house has at least two resident fire fighting chefs, ready for a culinary battle at all times. Making it a near certainty that the beast you woke up with is used to eating, or cooking, great food on a regular basis. Your average breakfast just won’t do.

    And keep a healthy stock of Fireman’s Brew handy. Not only is it made by real life Firefighters, they even donate a portion of their profits to causes that support families of fallen Firefighters. Craft beer with a cause.

    Great beer and a warm fuzzy feeling. Fireman sold separately.

    Beer Waffles with Amber Ale Caramel Sauce

    What To Make A Fireman For Breakfast: Beer Waffles with Amber Ale Caramel Sauce

    Ingredients
      

    Waffles:

    • 2 cups flour
    • 1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 cup butter melted
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1/4 cup milk
    • 12 oz Blonde Ale or Pilsner such as Firemans Blonde Lager

    Caramel Sauce:

    • 12 oz Amber Ale such as Firemans Amber Ale
    • 2 cups brown sugar packed
    • 3/4 cup heavy cream
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • 2 tbs butter

    Instructions
     

    • Make the caramel sauce: Add the beer to a pot over high heat and bring to a strong boil, reducing the beer to about 1 cup, about 6-10 minutes.
    • Remove from heat and add the brown sugar, stir until dissolved. Add a thermometer with a clip to the side of you pan, submerging the tip in the liquid, but making sure it does not hit the bottom of the pan.
    • Boil, without stirring (swirl the pan occasionally to redistribute the caramel sauce), until the temperature reaches between 230 degrees. Remove from heat and stir until the bubbling subsides. Add the cream, vanilla and butter, stir to combine. Allow to cool.
    • Make the waffles:
    • Heat your waffle iron according to manufacture directions.
    • In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. In another bowl, stir together the butter, milk and egg yolks, in a third bowl add the egg whites and a pinch of salt.
    • Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture. Stir to combine. Add the Pilsner (there will be significant bubbling) stir until just combined, a few lumps are to be expected.
    • Whip the egg whites until light and fluffy and tripled in volume. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, whip until well combined. Stir the egg whites into the waffle batter.
    • Using the waffle iron, cook waffles according to manufacture directions (make sure to use butter flavored cooking spray, if called for).
    • Serve waffles topped with caramel sauce.

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    Breakfast Galette

    I was giving Tater a bath tonight and thinking about how much I love bath time. Thinking, "It’s the little things.."

    Little things? I thought about all the things that we always refer to as the "Little things," warm bed, hot bath, clean clothes. Sure they’re little, If you HAVE them.

    If you don’t have them they are huge gigantic things. The biggest things ever.

    I wonder how many women all over the world would love nothing more than to give their babies a warm bath, with lots of soap, and then put them to sleep in a clean warm bed. Then I felt like crap for calling it a "little thing," when I what I should have thought was "A thing I have never thought to appreciate because I have always had it and am taking it for granted almost every day- thing."

    Why do we have it so backwards? We call water and soap a SMALL thing, and what gets that label of BIG are things like yachts and fancy cars, exotic vacationing.

    We are wrong.

    You can live your entire life NOT having a yacht and be perfectly happy, it never even occurring to you how incredibly yacht-less you are. Try to do that with water and soap.

    Having a baby has turned me into a big weeping mess. It used to take quite a bit to make me cry. I’d hide my dry eyes at weddings, feel like a freak for NOT crying when I watched a show about a baby being born, or when I heard a story that didn’t end well. My internal reaction was more along the lines of, "Am I supposed to cry? When’s lunch?"

    Now, I cry over everything. I can’t even watch Undercover Boss without mascara stained cheeks an hour later. And don’t even let me think about Extreme Home Makeover. Mr Fits is the same way, he spent the 20 years previous to Taters birth without one tear and now, when I write the lyrics to Loudon Wainwright’s song, Daughter on his Fathers Day card…

    About 4 weeks after Tater was born I read about a charity that gave clean birthing supplies and a new, warm outfit to women in third world countries. About four lines in a side bar and I was a mess. My own birth story, 17 hours of unmedicated natural labor, was still blissfully fresh in my mind. I was so happy that I was able to do it the way I had planed, it never occurred to me that the "lucky" part had nothing to do with my birth plan. I had TEN baby outfits packed in my hospital bag, and there were women out there that didn’t even have ONE! Giving birth with dirty supplies and nothing to put the baby in??!! Ugh. I sobbed. "Little things" my ass.

    They way I see it, most of us do have the Big Things. That pair of shoes you can’t afford, the fancy car you will probably never drive, that gorgeous leather sofa: all small things. When you are 80 years old, and you look back on your life, you won’t even remember them.

    But what you will remember is the time you spent with your family. And for me, the luxury of Saturday Morning Family Breakfast is a HUGE thing, because I would miss it. I would ache for it if I ever live a life where I can’t do that for my family. But right now, I am grateful and happy to have all the Big Things, and one of those is breakfast.

    Breakfast Galette

    Crust:

    2 cups flour

    1 tsp salt

    1 tsp sugar

    6 tbs of butter

    6 tbs shortening

    1/3 cup ice cold water

    Filling:

    1/2 a large red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

    1/2 cup fresh, chopped spinach

    1/4 cup  crumbled breakfast sausage, raw, removed from casing (about 4 links)

    Safest Choice eggs, yolks and whites sperated

    1 tsp Kosher salt

    1 tsp black pepper

    1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

    In a food processor, combine 1 1/3 cup flour, salt, sugar, then add the butter and shortening, process until well combined. Add the remaining flour and process again until combined. Transfer to a bowl and add the water with a wooden spoon (don’t add the water while the dough is in the food processor or your dough will be brittle and cracker-like). If the dough isn’t moist enough, you can add more water, a tsp at a time until the consistency is right. Form dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. I like to make the dough the night before, it takes about 10 minutes to throw this together, so it’s easy to do the night before.

    Preheat your oven to 375.

    Once the dough is chilled, roll into a “rustic” circle. The great thing about a Galette is that an odd shape looks charming, don’t worry about making it too perfect. Transfer to a baking sheet, or a pizza stone, covered with parchment paper.

    Top the center with the spinach, bell peppers and sausage.

    In a small bowl, whisk together the egg whites, salt and pepper. Pour into the center, over the filling (you my need another pair of hands for this) immediately fold up the edges, covering some of the filling but leaving the center open. Sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.

    Bake for 20 minutes or until the whites are set.

    Add the yolks to the center, bake again for 3-5 minutes. You still want the yolks to be runny. I just found out about Safest Choice Eggs, they’re pasteurized which removes the risk of salmonella poisoning. One less thing to worry about.

    Cut into 4-6 pieces. Serve warm.

    Printable version: Breakfast Galette 

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    Pecan Pie French Toast

    I’ve already told you all about my deep love for weekend breakfasts. But maybe I haven’t told you why.

    I have this amazing husband, that I sometimes think loves me more that I deserve. And I always worry that I’m going to fall off this pedestal he’s placed me on.

    And I have this daughter that is already cooler and more spectacular than I will ever be. I know I’ll always be proud of her, but I worry about her being proud of me.

    And I have to leave her 5 days a week and go to an office. And help people.

    And I worry. About being a good mom. About all the insane things that could happen to Tater, because it happened once to someone, somewhere, one time, 12 years ago.

    I worry that I spend too much time away from her. Is she happy enough? Am I doing the right thing by working? Would I lose all sanity if I was a real life Stay At Home Mom? I want her to have all the things that I didn’t, but one of those things is lots of one on one time…

    Being a mom is so hard. No matter what your situation.

    And even though these scary thoughts consume my drive to and from work, and sometimes make me cry, I always know that I can count on weekend breakfast. I know that no matter what else made me feel like a failure during the rest of the week, I can feel like I did something right.

    I cooked yummy food for my little family. We ate it together. And we all smiled. For a small window of my week, we were perfect…. except when Tater put eggs in her Big Girl cup, and threw toast on the ground, and cried because I was taking too long to get it all to the table, and she fed Sophia raisins that could make dogs sick…OK, perfect doesn’t exist when you are a human and being a mom makes you see that gap as a huge chasm that you will never even make it half way across. But weekend breakfast makes it feel smaller.

    I know that when I get old, I won’t remember the lack of sleep. The long commutes on LA freeways. The tantrums that drive me to a crazy place. But I will remember that smiling face. The family breakfast. Even though I have less patience than I want to have, and the thought of all the responsibility that goes along with parenting makes me so overwhelmed…. I still believe that theses really are "the good 'ole days." At least that’s how I will remember them. When I live to be 100.

    Pecan Pie French Toast

    (Will make you feel a little bit closer to perfect.

    To be made during those weeks when you need to know that you did at least one thing right)

    For the Filling/Topping

    1 stick of butter

    1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar

    1/2 cup light corn syrup (like Karo)

    1 tsp vanilla extract

    2 cups chopped pecans

    2 lightly beaten eggs

    For the Toast:

    8 slices of thick cut bread

    3 eggs

    2 cups of milk

    1/2 tsp salt

    1 tsp vanilla

    1 tbs sugar

    Preheat oven to 400.

    In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, allow to boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the pecans and vanilla and allow to cool to about room temp.

    In a large bowl, combine the 3 eggs,  milk, 1 tsp vanilla, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine. One at a time, soak each slice of bread for about 30 seconds. Add to a hot pan over medium-high heat, coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cook on each side for about 2-4 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet, sprayed with non stick cooking spray (slices will be stacked, two slices high, so you only need a baking sheet big enough for 4 slices.) Repeat for all slices.

    In a small bowl, beat the 2 eggs until combined. Add to your cooled pecan mixture and stir until well combined (if the pecan mixture is too hot, you will make scrambled eggs, make sure it’s room temp). Return to heat and allow to boil, stirring frequently,  for 2-5 minutes or until thickened. Allow to cool a bit.

    On one slice of bread, add about 2-4 tbs of the pecan mixture to the center. Top with another slice of toast. Repeat until you have 4 "sandwiches "  of pecan pie stuffed french toast on a baking sheet.

    Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

    Add to a plate and top each serving with 2-4 tbs of the remaining pecan mixture.

    Enjoy.

    Give yourself a break, you are a good human. You made a great breakfast, the rest of the world can wait.

    Printable: Pecan Pie French Toast

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