Pinterest for Breakfast

You know, Pinterest can be a time suck. Especially when you are new to the social media site. But over time, I have come to enjoy my time with Pinterest. It keeps me occupied during lulls in Giant’s games, helps me decide on projects to introduce at my monthly craft circle, and it provides me with a never-ending wealth of recipes.

I have Pinterest boards for Breakfast, Lunch, Appetizers, Dinner, and Dessert. There is a general Food category, Party food, High Tea, and Inspired Food, which I share with Brilliant Daughter. Easter, Halloween, and Christmas boards all have food items on them, and there’s a secret Paleo/Atkins board when I want a substitute for carbs.

Needless to say, that’s a whole lotta pins.

So, I thought I would share some of my more positive experiences with Pinterest recipes. (Because, believe me, not all recipes turn out wonderfully….)

I thought I would start with two breakfast items: Lemon-Blueberry Bread and Cinnamon Swirl Donut Bread. Back in the day…when all my kids were at home, I often made breads, muffins, scones, coffeecakes, etc. Over the last few years, these items have been few and far between. But I now cook every week for a friend with cancer.  I like to include both a breakfast item and a dessert, along with 3 meals. (The more calories, the better.) So, I spend every Saturday and/or Sunday on food prep and baking.

The Blueberry-Lemon Bread recipe originally came from Glorious Treats.  Her pictures are far more appetizing than mine could ever be, so I didn’t even bother with snapping a photo. This moist breakfast bread is the perfect foil for my Meyer lemons. (And yes, I still have about a dozen left on the tree!)

The tartness of the lemons with the sweetness of the blueberries, all tucked nicely into a slightly sweet and dense cake-like quick bread was a big hit with all who tried it. Perfect with a cup of tea (or coffee), good for morning or afternoon (or even for dessert!). You will not be disappointed. I promise.

Note: I also tried making this bread with dried blueberries, but it just didn’t work. You need the moisture of the fresh berries to keep the bread from being too dry. While it was still tasty, it was only about 40% as good as the original recipe using fresh blueberries.

Blueberry-Lemon Bread recipe can be found here.

My second Pinterest find for today is Cinnamon Swirl Donut Bread from Lauren’s Latest. I chose this recipe because it reminded me of one of the first things I learned to cook in high school home ec. We made these very simple plain cake muffins. No spices or fruit or nuts inside. Just a plain cake muffin. But when they came out of the oven, and were still warm, we rolled them in melted butter and then in a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Oh. My. God. They were delicious. I must have made those things dozens of time every year until I went to college. (Then I lost the recipe and the internet wasn’t a thing way back then.)

This recipe has a similar bent, but instead of that plain cake mixture, it has a swirl of tasty cinnamon goodness. It took only about 5 minutes to make it and there are no fancy ingredients. In fact I had everything in the house, except the buttermilk, and you can make your own quite easily.

In essence, you have a tasty batter, of which you take out ½ cup and add a bit of cinnamon and molasses. Then you layer your plain mixture—cinnamon mixture—plain mixture and then give it a quick swirl. Pop it in the oven for 45 minutes and let it cool for about 10. While it cools, you melt some butter and make the cinnamon-sugar coating. (I put the butter in a sheet cake pan and then in the cooling oven to melt.)

Pop out the bread, roll it into the butter and then coat all sides with the sugar. We actually had some while it was still slightly warm – better than any donut I’ve ever had. Seriously, you’ve got to try this, but be prepared; it won’t last for long!

Cinnamon Swirl Donut bread recipe here.

An Unconventional Way to Serve Morning Oatmeal

I like my morning bowl of oatmeal on cold winter mornings. It warms my soul, fills my belly and is a healthier alternative to most breakfast foods. I can also doctor it in a myriad of ways: fresh fruit, dried fruit, crystallized ginger, chocolate chips, brown sugar, chai spices….the list could go on forever. So I was pleasantly surprised to happen upon a recipe on Pinterest—a hazardous time suck—for baked oatmeal. Even better, it is baked in muffin tins so it is portable and reheatable. It's one of those recipes you could make on Sunday morning for the family and then have leftovers for the week to come. Bonus time saver and you can feel good about feeding these to the family (and yourself).

One unusual but important ingredient is the vanilla almond milk. The sweetness of this product is key to the flavor of the oatmeal. Almond milk has 50% more calcium than dairy milk with roughly the same calorie count as skim milk. It contains no saturated fat, cholesterol, dairy or lactose ingredients and it is a healthy alternative for everyone, save those with nut allergies. And for those who do not use it on a regular basis, you can purchase 8 ounce (1 cup) individual tetra paks, which is the perfect amount for this recipe.

I tried this recipe with both dried wild blueberries (a Trader Joe’s must-have with their intense blueberry flavor) and mini chocolate chips. I think it would also work well with The Ginger People’s Bakers Cut Crystallized Ginger Chips, although younger palates may not appreciate the substitution. I loved both, as did Mr. B. I am waiting for the rest of the family to weigh in.

hot and steaming right out of the oven

So, think about simplifying life a bit, and whipping up a batch of these over the weekend once or twice a month and providing a healthy alternative to a bowl of cereal or morning toast. Your taste buds and waistline will be happier for it.

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup vanilla almond milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 cups old fashioned or rolled oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup dried wild blueberries or mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together, and allow to site for a few minutes.

Prepare 16 muffin cups with paper liners or non-stick spray.

Stir the blueberries or chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter, incorporating well. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups. (I found that a large ice cream scoop uses the perfect amount of batter).

Bake 20-25 minutes. The edges should just be starting the brown and the muffins will be firm to the touch.

Remove from pan. If using paper liners, let the muffins cool for several minutes so they do not stick to the liner.

Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

Sorry about that title, I just love alliterations. Couldn’t help myself. Anyway, I have been experimenting with a Blueberry Cream Biscuit recipe that I saw in Better Homes and Gardens. It is a new family favorite, not only for breakfast but topped with some additional berries and whipped cream for dessert, or Mr B’s personal favorite, reheated in a bowl and topped with some half-and-half.

These biscuits are quick to make, don’t require any fancy ingredients, and can be served with lemon curd, blueberry jam, or all on their own. What appealed to me was the basic biscuit dough. I have yet to find a good basic biscuit (buttermilk or otherwise) and am constantly on the search. Unfortunately this is more a cross between a biscuit and a scone, but my disappointment was tempered by their delicious flavor.

I have tried the recipe with different spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger), amounts of sugar, both whipping cream and half-and-half, topped off with sugar or not, and different baking times. I’ve come to the consensus that my small alterations to the original recipe improve upon the taste and it got big thumbs up from everyone in the household.

I happen to like a sweeter dough, so I increased the amount of sugar. This makes them perfectly edible on their own, without the need for the original blueberry sauce the recipe called for, or even butter, jam or curd. By sprinkling white or raw sugar over the top, you also get an extra bit of sweetness and crunch.

I also tried to make the recipe with half-and-half, as I was out of cream on one occasion. But the cream is significantly thicker and richer—a bridge between the traditional milk and butter called for in recipes like these. The half-and-half required an additional ½ cup of flour, which diluted the sweetness. Even with the additional flour, the dough was a bit hard to turn, as it was still a bit sticky. The result was a somewhat tough outer biscuit, not as light and fluffy as the cream-based version.

I also found that the baking time of 17 minutes from the original recipe was just too short. It was closer to 22-25 and my oven is well calibrated. Had I turned on the convection it might have been done in 17, but be warned. Taking the biscuits out too early means raw dough in the center.

These take about 5 minutes to make, and with cooking time can be on your table, piping hot, in less than 30. So what are you waiting for?

Blueberry Breakfast Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ginger

1 cup blueberries

¼ cup diced crystallized ginger*

1½ cups whipping cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and ginger. Toss blueberries and crystallized ginger with the flour mixture. Stir whipping cream into the flour mixture until just moistened.
Turn out dough on a floured work surface. Gently lift and fold dough four or five times, making a quarter turn between each fold. Place dough on the cookie sheet forming it into an 8-inch square, approximately 1 inch thick. Using a floured pizza cutter or knife, cut 12 to 16 squares in dough, leaving biscuits intact. 

Bake in upper half of oven for 22-25 minutes. until golden brown. Cut through or pull apart biscuits.

*The Ginger People make baker’s cut crystallized ginger chips, which are perfect for baking recipes (as well as to put in oatmeal, granola, etc). This is what they look like, although they are significantly cheaper (by half) at Cost Plus.