Guest Post: Cinnamon Rolls, French Toast and Frittata

zesty — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:00:29 +0000

Hi everyone! I’m Brandi from BranAppetit! First, I just want to thank Zesty for the chance to guest post – he has some amazing recipes and I’m a bit intimidated to post mine. Since the holidays are coming up, I keep thinking of possible breakfast items to have with family. Typically, the lunches and dinners are planned down to the smallest detail, but breakfast is often left out. I don’t know about you, but breakfast is my favorite meal of the day!

I would rather have a big and satisfying breakfast than go through the day hungry, just waiting for that 10 course dinner. My family has some traditions for breakfasts, but mostly at Christmas. My mom and her best friend, Jill, always make their own breakfast casseroles – a mix of crescent rolls, sausage, cheese, and eggs – and we have that along with fruit, coffee, and juice when we’re opening presents together.

I’m not sure what will be on the breakfast table this holiday season as our schedule is changing, but I’ve been thinking of a few things I’ve made lately that would be perfect for a family breakfast or brunch.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

I actually found this recipe through Cooking Light and made a few changes by only using ½ cup regular flour (the rest was whole wheat) and they turned out great! I had never made cinnamon rolls before, but this recipe really was easy to follow. I prepped them the night before so the only thing we had to do in the morning was bake them. Plus, they taste sinful and you can still feel good about eating them.

Pumpkin Stuffed French Toast

This is so tasty and so easy. It encompasses all the great flavors of fall, and it’s a great thing to make for a large crowd, too. It doesn’t take any longer than regular French toast, so as long as you have the filling ingredients, you’ll have this made in no time.

Frittata

One of the easiest things to make, really. As long as you have eggs, some veggies and some cheese, you’re set! The best thing about frittatas is that you can use leftovers to make an awesome breakfast. Roasted veggies? Toss them in. Kale and scallions? Go ahead. I think everything tastes better with eggs and cheese.
Do you have any family breakfast traditions for the holidays?

Zesty Here…

Thanks Brandi (BranAppetit) for some great breakfast food. Everything looks very good. I would definitely love to be sinking my teeth into that breakfast. However I am sinking my teeth into a Holiday Inn Express Breakfast nonetheless. I hope you have a great day.

Take care

zesty

Can you say Biscuits and Cinnamon Rolls?

zesty — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:00:53 +0000

What a Monday! It was not the greatest day in the world but that happens right? Work was a bit of a “GONG” show but I survived. We did make some decent progress on the house as the elevations are complete and I received my plumbing quote. So we are pretty happy about that aspect. I am submitting the application for the building permit this afternoon and hopefully things will go smooth.

As promised in yesterdays post, I thought I would share with you a baking technique that will make you and your guests quite excited. Take a basic biscuit dough enhanced with buttermilk and turn it into both an amazing biscuit or tasty cinnamon rolls. All I could say as we set out on this project was ” You are GENIUS“.

The results were second to none. The texture of both the biscuits and the cinnamon rolls were soft and fluffy. The biscuits, touched with butter, was a melt in your mouth experience. For the cinnamon rolls – the caramelization of the butter and sugar on the bottom of the pan was amazing. As we all know they are not the healthiest snacks in the world they should probably be eaten in moderation (if possible).

Ingredients

4 Cups all-purpose flour
4 Tsp. baking powder
1 Tsp. salt
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
1/2 Cup shortening, cut into small pieces
2 Cup buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 Tsp. Cream of Tartar

Biscuit Topping:

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon buttermilk

Cinnamon Rolls:

1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Butter

Method

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cream of tartar and sugar.

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (use pastry blender, two knives, or fingertips).
Add the milk, slightly beaten egg and stir until just combined. (The texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy.)

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently until it comes together and is a smooth dough.

Divide the dough into two pieces and set one aside.

Roll out dough to about 3/4 inch thickness.

Cut out biscuits with a lightly floured cutter of your choice ( I use a small glass ).
Place on prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with the beaten egg and milk mixture and bake for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

With the second piece of dough roll 1/2 inch thick.
Melt butter, cinnamon and brown sugar in the microwave.

Spread the mixture onto the rolled out dough.

Roll the dough up into a tight roll and slice into 1 inch thick.

In a 9 x 13 pan, add a little butter and brown sugar to the bottom.

Place sliced cinnamon rolls to the pan.

Bake 18 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and then flip them over on a wire rack.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When working with dough, you do not have to over work the dough, get it together, give it a few kneads and get it on the pan.

So there you have it. A great way to create two different enjoyable treats with one batch of dough. I hope you have a great day at whatever you do and I will be back to see you tomorrow.