Scones (Alton Brown Recipe)

Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg
Handful dried currants or dried cranberries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Stir in fruit. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Roll dough out and cut into biscuit size rounds. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.

Notes: Another first for me - I'd eaten scones like this but never made them. Easy and tasty.

Source: food network

Biscuit Egg-in-a-Hole

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and frozen
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
1 small bunch fresh chives, thinly sliced
1 cup buttermilk, plus more for brushing
Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking sheet
6 round slices Black Forest ham
6 large eggs

Directions

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425°F.
2. Pulse together the flour, baking powder, sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons each salt and pepper in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until pea-sized pieces form. Add the cheese and chives and pulse until just combined. Add the buttermilk and pulse a couple of times until the dough just comes together but is not fully incorporated.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat together gently into a ball. Use your hands to divide the dough into 6 even pieces. Generously coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
4. Using the baking sheet as your work surface, pat each piece of dough into a 3 1/2-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Arrange 3 dough rounds along the top long edge of the baking sheet, spacing them out evenly and making sure there is a 1/2-inch space between the dough rounds and the edges of the baking sheet. Arrange the remaining 3 dough rounds in the same fashion along the bottom long edge of the baking sheet. Cut the center out of each round with a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Arrange these smaller rounds evenly across the middle of the baking sheet.
5. Brush the tops of all the dough pieces with buttermilk and bake until the smaller biscuits are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove them and transfer to a plate.
6. Lay a piece of ham over each of the large rounds. Push each ham piece down into the hole so that it forms a cup. Crack 1 egg into each of the ham cups. If a little of the egg white spills over, it's okay. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and pepper. Bake, rotating the pan front to back after 5 minutes, until the whites are just set and the yolks are still jiggly when you lightly shake the baking sheet, 8 to 12 minutes more.
7. Use a spatula to remove them to individual plates and top each with a smaller biscuit piece for dipping into the egg.

Notes: I believe this was my very first time making biscuits from scratch, so it was a bit of a learning experience. I was expecting as much and made it on a morning where the kids didn't have school. Afterwards Brittany told me she doesn't like to use the food processor for biscuits and preferred mixing them by hand. Now I  know! I think it turned out well, though. This was a tasty breakfast worthy of making another time. The kids didn't care for the spiciness of the pepper jack cheese in the biscuits, so maybe next time I will make it with cheddar.

Source: food network

Sheet Pan Pancakes

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups dry pancake mix
2 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together pancake mix and water. Coat 18x13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Pour pancake batter into pan, spreading to evenly distribute.
3. Sprinkle chocolate chips, blueberries, or banana slices over batter, if desired. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes.
4. Cut into squares and serve with syrup, refrigerating any leftovers.

Notes: We made this with a protein pancake mix that we had a coupon for, but I really think it would work with any pancake batter (and will probably try it with batter made from scratch in the future). It is quick and easier than making a bunch of individual pancakes on the griddle.

Source: Kroger Private Selection mailer that we got in the mail this week.

Classic Waffles

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons white sugar

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; set aside. Preheat waffle iron to desired temperature.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in the milk, butter and vanilla. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture; beat until blended.
3. Ladle the batter into a preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden and crisp. Serve immediately.

Notes: An easy waffle recipe that didn't require me to separate egg whites or beat anything with a noisy mixer early in the morning. Turned out well I thought. 

Source: allrecipes

Brioche French Toast

Ingredients: 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 slices challah, brioche, or white bread
1/2 cup maple syrup, warmed

Directions: 

1. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar and set aside briefly. 
2. In a 10-inch or 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk together cinnamon mixture, eggs, milk, and vanilla and pour into a shallow container such as a pie plate. Dip bread in egg mixture. Fry slices until golden brown, then flip to cook the other side. Serve with syrup. 

Notes: Tasty and easy French Toast recipe. Sweet enough the syrup really wasn't necessary. I added the butter a little bit at a time instead of all at once. Not sure if that is why I had a bit of trouble with the bread burning on the first couple of slices, but I mixed in a little vegetable oil with the butter after that and didn't have any more problems.

Source: Food Network

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix canned pumpkin, oil, and sugar together, either by hand or with a mixer on low. Add in eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly after each. Add vanilla.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
4. Slowly add flour mixture to liquids, combining thoroughly and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula until well combined.
5. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.
6. Drop in spoonfuls of pumpkin mixture. 
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes for standard size muffins.

Notes: We added chocolate chips so the kids would be more willing to eat them (they are not all fans of pumpkin).

Source: printed out on a paper in a folder in the cupboard - not sure where this recipe originally came from.

Crunchy Churro French Toast Sticks

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

1 loaf brioche bread 

3 eggs 

3 tablespoons milk 

2 teaspoons brown sugar 

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 cups cornflakes 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 ½ cups cinnamon sugar 

Instructions

1. Remove crust from bread. (I left it on the top and just removed from the sides.)
2. Cut bread into large square pieces. 
3. Crush cornflakes in a baggie, pour into shallow dish, and set aside. 
4. Mix eggs, milks, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl. 
5. Heat skillet with about 1 tablespoon of butter. 
6. Dip bread into egg mixture on all sides. Coat in crushed cornflakes. 
7. Grill on all sides until golden brown in skillet. 
8. Immediately roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. 
9. Serve with syrup or chocolate sauce for dipping.

Notes: These were amazing and I'll definitely be making them again. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The brioche loaf I found also had vanilla swirls in it, which was a nice addition. There were a couple of suggestions in the comments of the source link that I followed and were helpful: 1) use a mix of oil and butter in the pan - with butter only they burn easily. 2) finish them up in the oven at 350° for 5-8 minutes.

Source: Tasty

Extra Thick and Fluffy Japanese Style Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup Buttermilk to make up 1 cup with the egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
Butter maple syrup, ice-cream, etc. for toppings

Instructions

1. Sift all the dry ingredients together into a bowl and combine.
2. In another bowl add the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract and whisk until just combined.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid mixture in.
4. Mix together then add the mayonnaise and mix well to combine. 
5. Place a homemade pancake mold (instructions for this are listed below) onto a frying pan over low heat and pour half the mixture into the mold. (Fill the mold about 70-80%; batter will expand.)
6. Place a lid on the frying pan and leave it for 15 minutes.
7. Once little bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes and the edge is slightly cooked, lift the bottom of the pancake with an egg flipper then cover the pancake with the inverted frying pan and flip the whole thing together before placing it back on the heat. (Multiple can be cooked on the same pan, but it makes this part hard. Just make sure there is room so that they can be flipped.)
8. Place the lid over the top again and cook for another 15 minutes on the other side.
9. To test if it is done, stick a skewer into the pancake. If it comes out clean, then the pancake is cooked through.
10. Remove the pancake from the heat, remove the staples from the mold and take the pancakes out of the mold.
11. Serve the pancakes with your favorite toppings.

Constructing the Pancake Mold: (There is a video for this at the source link.) Take an old milk carton or a thin sheet or cardboard, some baking paper, and a stapler. Cut the milk carton/cardboard and the baking paper into long strips about 4.5 cm wide and 30 cm long. Staple the baking paper onto the cardboard then form it into a circle shape and staple it closed (with the baking paper on the inside). 

Notes: These were interesting to make but perhaps not as good as I wanted them to be considering all the effort that went into making them. I tried to cook 6 at a time, 3 each on two different pans, which was probably a mistake. Each of the kids was full after 1/2 of one of these. Cooking multiple in the pan made step 7 quite a challenge, as there was still a lot of liquid when I tried to flip. After 15 minutes on each side, these didn't seem anywhere near done, so I stuck them in the oven to finish cooking. We didn't have Japanese mayonnaise, but we found a substitute online where we added sugar and apple cider vinegar. I think if I did it over I would just use American mayonnaise without trying to modify it.

Source: Chopstick Chronicles