Italian Cream Pancakes

I know I haven't posted in a while...I've been super busy with school work (junior year is killing me), but now it's FINALLY time for Spring Break! I will try my best to post at least one recipe each day because there are so many recipes I've been meaning to post and I know I am super behind. For my first post in a while, I have decided to present to you these incredible, sweet, nutty pancakes topped with a decadent cream cheese glaze. 

Yes, they are just as delicious as they sound. I promise.

If you've never tasted Italian Cream Cake, then you totally need to. Like...immediately. Sooo..you can start with this breakfast recipe! These pancakes seriously taste just like Italian Cream Cake, only hot and in heavenly pancake form, with warm glaze oozing all over them. Coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans are the most perfect combination perhaps in the entire world, and they taste scrumptious in this recipe.  Not to mention, [ toasting ] the pecans give the pancakes a wonderful nutty-ness that tastes so warm and comforting.

There were no leftovers when I made these for my family, and I'm sure the same thing will happen for you.

You can find this decadent recipe here. 

Glazed Spice-Cake Donut Muffins

I love spice cake.  I love donuts.  I love muffins.  Why not combine them all?  This recipe does not result in your typical Krispy Kreme, fried donut...although the glaze is quite similar.  The texture is more of a cake donut consistency, with a wonderful, spiced flavor.  They are the perfect thing to have in the morning with a warm, cup of coffee...so comforting, and very suitable for dunking.  They also keep well for a couple days (for best taste, no more than three), and who doesn't love leftovers? Another thing I love about this recipe is that there are so many options on how to prepare the batter.  You can bake them: into mini muffins (just reduce baking time), on parchment paper or greased baking sheet to create muffin top cookies, into one, large pan to create a snack cake/quick bread, in a donut pan, and/or you can frost them with cream cheese icing.  However, I absolutely adore this recipe the way it is - no alterations necessary.  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the Glaze:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup confectioners' sugar; sifted

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium muffin pan with cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and flour. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, maple syrup, and butter in a separate medium bowl until just combined, and stir into the dry ingredients. Do NOT over mix. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, about 3/4 of the way full.
3. Bake 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.  Let rest for at least 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.
4. For glaze, combine melted butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and hot water in a medium bowl.  Whisk until smooth.  When muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Carrot-Oat Cake Bars

Who doesn't love a yummy, healthy snack?  This recipe was originally submitted from Whole Foods (best grocery store ever!!) and I figured I would try it out because I had been wanting to make a healthy recipe, since my family and I have had a little too many unhealthy things lately. (especially sweets....shocker, right?).  I love the hearty texture of this cake/bar.  It kind of reminds me of the Carrot Cake Lara Bar...only my recipe is wayyyy better.  The only fat in it is the coconut and nuts (which are healthy fats!), and a tiny bit of butter in the powdered sugar frosting - if you choose to use it. Everything else is made with extremely healthy ingredients!  This can be served for breakfast, dessert, or simply an anytime snack.  I had it warm for dessert with a powdered sugar frosting from my heavenly spice cake bars (found here) and at room temperature the next morning for breakfast with my healthy, yogurt glaze from my incredible, healthy carrot cake recipe (found here).  These bars only lasted a few hours in my house!  They are so perfect for on-the-go snacking as well!

Ingredients:

1 cup raisins

orange juice - enough to completely cover the raisins

Cooking spray 

1 cup rolled or quick cooking oats 

1 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

1 cup whole wheat flour 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 cups grated carrots 

1/2 cup pure maple syrup 

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sweetened finely shredded coconut 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly oil a (9-inch) square baking pan with cooking spray and set it aside. 


Cover raisins with orange juice in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, simmer for about 20 minutes, or until big and plump.  Drain and cool.


Pulse oats and nuts in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt and mix well. In a second large bowl, combine carrots, maple syrup, honey, applesauce, drained raisins, coconut and vanilla. Add carrot mixture to flour mixture and stir until completely incorporated. Transfer to prepared pan and bake until cooked through and deep golden brown, about 40 -60 minutes.  Set aside to let cool before cutting into squares.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Frost if desired.

Warm with the powdered sugar glaze...












Made in muffin tins with the Greek yogurt yogurt glaze, topped with nuts and raisins (chilled)....

The Best French Toast In the Entire Universe

 

Oh yeah.  I'm not kidding in the slightest...this is the BEST french toast recipe ever.  I first had it a few year's ago at my friend Lisa's house; her mom made it for us for breakfast.  I loved it so much...I had at least thirds.  I kept telling her how incredible it was, and she made it every time me and Lisa had a sleepover.  It cuts like butter, and the inside is perfectly eggy and soak up the egg/milk mixture sooo well.  The addition of orange zest gives it a wonderful, fresh taste that makes it so much better than any other french toast recipe.  And the honey makes it perfectly sweet and...ohmygoodness everything about this recipe is just SO perfect.  It's just as phenomenal every time I eat it.  It's one of those recipes where once you have it, you have to have it every couple weeks or so or you'll go insane because you love it so much. She gave me the recipe and I can honestly say I've only made it once, but I used a different bread, so it didn't turn out as good as she makes it. You have to use a good Challah bread, or it won't taste like the absolute best french toast in the entire universe.  But I promise you that if you follow this recipe exactly, it will be the best.  After you try this recipe, you will never eat another french toast recipe EVER again.  Whenever me or a friend or family member makes or orders french toast, it seriously tastes almost gross, because all you can think about is how much better this recipe is.  I recommend serving it will pure maple syrup, a little bit of powdered sugar, and fresh strawberries. Please try this recipe...it will not disappoint.  You can find this recipe here.

Almond Sandies

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• Have you ever had Pecan Sandies? They're a buttery, shortbread-like cookie, and they're one of my favorites.  However, we never have pecans in our house...but we always have almonds.  So I decided to create an almond sandie.  And they turned out soooo tasty!  They seriously blew my mind and didn't last a day in my house!   My family could not stop eating them. They truly [melt-in-your-mouth].  The glaze is not something that's normally on pecan sandies, but I think it adds so much and makes the cookie taste much better, because pecan sandies aren't typically a very sweet cookie...and I like my cookies sweet. The glaze makes these much more unique than any other cookie.  I love the little crunch from the nuts, too.  And the almond in the center makes these so pretty and the perfect gift or dessert to bring to a party.  I can't wait to make these during the holiday season!
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• Yield: about 4 dozen
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• Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 eggs
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped almonds + some whole ones

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, vegetable oil, 1/4 cup white sugar, brown sugar and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the almonds.   Freeze the dough for 30 minutes.
3. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto parchment paper place a whole almond into the center of each one, gently pressing the cookie down slightly (these don't spread out much while cooking).
4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden. Remove from paper to cool on wire racks. 
5.  Combine the glaze ingredients together.  Dip cooled cookies completely into glaze and let sit a few minutes to set.

Puree of Apple-Rutabaga Soup

This is my new, all-time favorite soup recipe.  I recently went to a cooking class at a local country club, and the head chef made seven recipes for us.  Of all the recipes, this was my favorite.  It's super easy...the hardest part is just cutting up all the veggies.  But the recipe is so easy to memorize because the proportions are all almost the same.  This is so incredibly flavorful and the flavors are absolutely incredible together.  When you're cooking it, your entire house smells like fall...the wonderful aroma of fresh fruits and vegetables roasting in butter.  Mmmm.  My mom kept telling me she wasn't gonna like it because the thought of apples and rutabaga in soup grossed her out, but once she smelled it, she began to change her mind.  And then once she tasted it, she scraped her bowl clean and declared it "amazing."  My mom, dad and I had all of the soup in one sitting.  I'll definitely be making this again very soon.




Ingredients:
1 stick of whole butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup peeled, cored, rough chopped Granny Smith Apples
1 cup peeled, rough chopped Rutabaga
1 cup peeled, rough chopped butternut squash
1 cup peeled, rough chopped carrots
1 cup peeled, rough chopped sweet potatoes
1 quart rich chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste


Instructions:
1. Melt butter in a heavy gauge sauce pot.  Add onion, apples, rutabaga, squash, carrots, and sweet potato.
2.  Saute over medium heat until onions are soft and translucent (about 5-7 minutes).  Add stock and simmer until all vegetables are tender and cooked through (about 40 minutes).
3.  Puree in blender, food processor or using a stick burr mixer.
4.  Return to heat, add cream and syrup.  Season soup with salt, pepper, and cayenne.  Bring back to a simmer. Serve.

Carrot Cake Pancakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh yesss..I went there.  I converted the remarkable carrot cake into a pancake.  These are just as good as a big ole slice of carrot cake.  But these are slightly healthier!  They are very hearty and a great way to get some veggies into your breakfast.  Who knew you could be eating vegetables, fruit, breakfast, and dessert all at the same time?? Now I'm not saying these are the healthiest breakfast option (definitely very healthy if you omit the frosting though!), but who really cares???  It's CARROT CAKE for BREAKFAST.  I'm seriously thinking about going to make some right now...and it's 11:00 at night.   They were just that amazing.  It's everything you love about a typical carrot cake, but in pancake form.  There are just so many delicious flavors that [hit your taste buds] once you bite into these pancakes.  Cinnamon, pineapple, toasted nuts, coconut, orange juice, cranberries, cream cheese, maple syrup....oh~my~goody~goodness.  I had this with Archer Farms Coconut Macaroon Coffee on the side (found here) and I honestly felt like I was in Hawaii or something.  It was the most tropical, flavorful, super fantastic breakfast ever.  My parents and I ate sooo many of these pancakes; it was ridiculous.  Yet I legitimately cannot wait to make them again.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup Complete Pancake Mix (I used Hungry Jack)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup milk
1 heaping tablespoon applesauce

1/4 cup diced pineapple

3/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup toasted, chopped nuts

1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Instructions:

***Prepare frosting recipe below first, so you can spread it over the pancakes when they're still warm from the griddle.

1.  Heat orange juice in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add cranberries or raisins and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to a medium-low heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes, or until cranberries/raisins are nice and plump.  Remove from heat, drain orange juice, and set aside cranberries/raisins.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together pancake mix and cinnamon. Add milk and applesauce and whisk until combined. Stir in plump raisins, pineapple, carrots, coconut, and pecans until well combined. 

3.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat and grease it. Working in batches, form each pancake by dropping spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet. Cook until golden on bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter.  Spread frosting over each pancake and serve with maple syrup.

Ingredients:  (this makes a very generous amount of frosting, so you may want to half it if you don't want a lot on your pancakes)
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pure maple syrup 


Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
2.  Slowly sift the confectioners sugar and continue beating until all lumps are gone.  Add the vanilla and mix until fully integrated. Spread onto warm pancakes and serve with a generous amount of maple syrup.

Mashed Banana Toast/Sandwiches

Do you mash or slice your bananas???


I would guess you have probably been slicing them your whole life.  Well, here's something new to try: MASH 'EM! All it does it make it creamy.  It's literally like creating your own banana spread.  Especially if the banana is really ripe...mashing a ripe banana will make it taste way better than a greenish banana (since ripe bananas have more sugar). Did you know that they sell banana peanut butter?  I don't understand why would anyone buy that when you can just make it yourself.  Anyways...instead of your usual peanut butter and sliced banana toast/sandwiches that I'm sure you've been doing for as long as you can remember, just mash the banana!  You can mix other spreads in with the banana if you want to change it up even more.  


Mashed Banana Toast/Sandwich:


Ingredients:
1 slice of bread, toasted   (or 2 for a sandwich)
1/2 to 1 ripe banana (depending how big it is)




Instructions:
Mash the banana as chunky or creamy as you'd like.  Spread mashed banana on hot toast.


***Add a slice of bread on top to make a sandwich if you prefer.  Toasting is optional. 


Variations:  Mix into mashed banana mixture before spreading on top of bread...

• peanut butter
• nutella
• honey
• melted chocolate chips (flavor of your choice)
• cocoa powder
• cinnamon
• blueberries
• almond butter (or other nut butter of your choice)
• chopped or sliced strawberries
• crushed Nilla Wafers
• toffee bits
• coconut flakes
• dash of vanilla extract
• brown sugar (this is very sweet..but delicious)
• chopped nuts of your choice
• grape nuts (or other cereal of your choice.  Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch is really good too)
• caramel sauce
• whipped cream
• chocolate sauce/syrup
• pudding
• maple syrup
• jelly 
• yogurt

Melted chocolate chips & banana:

Peanut Butter, Cinnamon, and Banana:

Peanut Butter, Banana and Chocolate Chunks:

Mashed Banana and Nutella Sandwich:

Almond Butter and Banana:

Spread it on graham crackers!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple and Ginger Buttercream Frosting

I recently took a cooking class called "The Art of Cupcakes," by Chef Wynton Mann (you can check out his site at www.wyntonsworld.com), and it was so much fun!  We made five different types of incredibly delicious cupcakes: these, banana nut cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream frosting, chocolate cupcakes with strawberry mascarpone cream cheese-filling and chocolate cream cheese frosting, honey pear cupcakes with white chocolate and pistachio buttercream frosting, and vanilla coffee cupcakes with tiramisu filling and coffee buttercream frosting.  I know you're probably drooling right now just reading over that. Imagine actually biting into them.  They were all sooo good...not one of them was even close to forgettable.  And none of the recipes are available online, so I guess you'll just have to make them all from my blog(:

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, at room temperature
8 oz. canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil


For the Frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz. butter, room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon ginger, powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted


Directions:
For the Cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners.
3.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
4. In another larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.
5. Add the flour and stir until combined.
6. Divide the batter among the prepared tins and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.


For the Frosting:
1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the butter and beat until combined. Add the maple syrup and ginger and beat to combine.  Add 1.5 cups of the sugar and beat on low speed until combined.  
2.  Optional: add up to 1/2 cup more of sugar so that the frosting is thick.