Do you have a favorite meal of the day? A favorite time of the day? Mine is the morning and breakfast. I have always LOVED breakfast…I am one of those people who look forward to morning just so I can have coffee.
But as I get older, I have been known to have coffee any given time of the day. It truly one of my guilty pleasures (along with peanut Butter M&M’s, Ice Cream, Peanut butter in general, and the list goes on and on) But seriously, breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day…and the quiet mornings when I can grab a steaming cup of coffee and go work in the office, or chat with my hubby on the couch while the girls play…AHHH, one of my FAVS!!!
As our summer is winding down and we will back to crazy busy schedules and rushing mornings, I am cherishing each morning as it comes with my two littles. I thought it would be a good time to bring you some yummy breakfast meals today!
Fried Egg Sandwich on Sourdough
Ingredients
4 tablespoons (½ stick) salted butter
3 large crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large eggs
2 slices Sourdough Bread, toasted
¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated, loosely packed
Directions
1. In a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter. Sauté the sliced mushrooms with salt and pepper for about 3 to 5 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked out. Remove from pan and wipe clean.
2. In the same sauté pan, heat the remaining butter over medium-high heat and crack both eggs into the hot pan, being careful not to break the yolks. Season with salt and pepper. When the egg whites begin to turn opaque and bubble on the sides, gently flip the eggs over. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Top one slice of toast with the eggs, sautéed mushrooms, and grated cheese. Top with the other slice of bread and enjoy.
TIP: Our favorite way to do this sandwich is to only partially cook the egg yolk so when you bite into the sandwich, the yolk oozes out over the cheese, mushrooms, and bread.
Buttermilk Biscuits and Sausage Gravy
I recommend preparing the biscuits first (not baking them), getting the gravy started, and then baking the biscuits while the gravy is thickening up. That way you can stir the gravy frequently which is hard to do when your hands are covered with flour and dough. If you don’t have self-rising flour, you can substitute using a ratio of 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, plus 1/8 teaspoon of salt, for every cup of self-rising flour.
Ingredients
Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe Ingredients:
2 ½ cups self-rising flour (plus extra for flouring your surface)
2 tsp sugar (Optional)
½ tsp kosher salt
4 Tbsp vegetable shortening (see Baking Tips below)
4 Tbsp butter (chilled)
1 cup chilled buttermilk (plus 1-2 tbsp more, if needed)
1 tbsp melted butter (Optional: to brush on top of biscuits after baking)Sausage Gravy Ingredients:
1 lb sage-flavored pork sausage
¼ cup finely chopped white or yellow onion
6 tbsp all purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
½ tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1-2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1-2 dashes of Tabasco sauce, cayenne pepper, or other hot sauce
1-2 tbsp butter or bacon grease (if needed)
Method
Buttermilk Biscuits
Baking Tips: 1) Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back side of a knife. If you scoop the flour, it will pack into the measuring cup, yielding too much flour, 2) Instead of 4 Tbsp each of butter and shortening, feel free to use 8 Tbsp of shortening or butter, or any combination up to 8 Tbsp.
1 Preheat oven to 450 F. Prepare a floured surface for shaping the dough and have an ungreased baking sheet ready (lined with Silpat sheets if you have them).
2 Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Using a fork or a pastry blender cut in the shortening and butter. Work quickly, you don’t want the fats to melt – the key to fluffy biscuits is minimal handling. The mixture should be crumbly.
3 Make a well in the flour mixture, and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a spoon and blend just until the liquid is absorbed and the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl – add 1-2 tbsp more buttermilk if the dough is dry. Do not over mix; the dough will be tacky, neither wet nor dry.
4 With lightly floured hands, turn out the dough onto a lightly-floured surface and gently fold it over on itself 2 or 3 times. Shape into a 3/4” thick round. If you use a rolling pin, be sure to flour it first to keep the dough from sticking to the pin.
5 Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits pressing straight down (avoid the temptation to twist the cutter as twisting keeps the biscuits from rising). Dip the cutter in flour between cuttings to keep the dough from sticking to the cutter. Place biscuits on the baking sheet so that they just touch (for crunchy sides, leave space in between). Reshape scrap dough and continue cutting. Remember to handle the dough as little as possible.
6 Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top. Turn the baking sheet around halfway through baking.
7 Optional: Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.
Sausage Gravy
1 Preheat a 4-quart saucepan over medium high heat (put a few drops of water in the pan – when they evaporate, you know the pan is ready). Crumble the sausage into the pan and let it brown for a minute or two, then turn down to medium heat. Continue cooking, breaking up the sausage into smaller pieces, until no pink remains. Stir in the onions and cook until they are transparent.
2 Remove sausage with a slotted spatula or spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan. If less than 3 tbsp of drippings remain, add enough butter (or bacon grease) to equal about 3 tbsp of drippings. Add the cooked sausage back to the pan on medium heat, and sprinkle the flour over the sausage. Stir in the flour and cook for about 6-8 minutes, until the mixture starts bubbling and turns slightly golden brown.
3 Stir in poultry seasoning, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and salt – cook for 1 minute to deepen the flavors. Slowly add the milk and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about 15 minutes). Be patient, it will thicken!
Yield: Makes 10-12 servings
Blueberry Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
1 loaf Panera Bread Cinnamon Raisin Bread
8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese spread, at room temperature
4 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
¾ cup fresh blueberries
6 large eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Directions
1. Cut bread into 1 1/4-inch-thick slices (you should have about 8 slices). Cut a slit through the top crust of each slice to form a deep pocket.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and orange zest. Stir in blueberries and spoon filling equally into bread pockets. Lay stuffed slices of bread in a shallow 4-quart baking dish, such as a 15-inch-by-10-inch dish.
3. In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, salt, and remaining the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pour mixture evenly over bread, tilting the dish to completely coat the bread. Let sit until the liquid is absorbed, at least 30 minutes at room temperature or covered in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Coat a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray, oil, or butter, and heat over medium-high heat. Add the Panera Bread Cinnamon Raisin Bread and cook until nicely browned and crisp outside, about 5 minutes per side.
TIP: If you don’t have whole milk, use 1 cup 2 percent milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream.
Baked Vanilla Donuts with Vanilla Glaze
Ingredients:
For the Donuts
1 c all-purpose flour
6 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted)
6 tbsp buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp butter, melted
Yields: 6-7 donuts in this Wilton doughtnut pan. Pans vary by size but this is not a “huge” recipe. Double or triple, or halve (beat the egg and then divide in half) the recipe as desired. For the extra bit of batter, rather than waiting for my one donut pan to come out of the oven, I made two small muffins in a muffin pan with it. It took about 15 minutes for the muffins to cook through.
For the Glaze
1/2 c (or more) powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (use more if you like a stronger vanilla flavor)
1-2 tsp Water, Milk, Half & Half, Cream, Heavy Cream, Vegan Milk, Coconut Milk, etc. (I used half & half)
Directions:
For the Donuts
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease or cooking-spray the donut pan (or muffin tin).
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon (and salt).
Add buttermilk, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Whisk or stir to combine.
Use a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip (or a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off) to pipe the batter into a 6-donut pan. Or just be extra neat and do this with a spoon which is what I did.
Bake 8 to 11 minutes in the preheated oven, until doughnuts spring back when touched or until dough is set. Donuts will not be golden brown, but should be springy. (I always underbake my baked goods but in my oven these took 10-11 minutes to set up)
Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan, about 5 minutes.
For the Glaze
While donuts are baking or cooling, make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and liquid of your choice. Add the water or milk, one teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.
Dip the donuts into the glaze while warm (or cool).
Add sprinkles or other extras at end as desired.
To make Gluten Free: use your favorite gluten free flour blend
To make Vegan: My suggestion would be to replace the buttermilk with almond milk or if you enjoy coconut milk, I’d use full fat coconut milk (because it’s thicker like buttermilk); increase the amount of baking powder and/or add baking soda, use melted margarine or Earth Balance, and use a flax/chia egg rather than regular egg.
Please share your favorite recpies with us too! Enjoy!
<3 XOXO
Steph
