Doughnut Bread Pudding

Doughnuts can be found all over the world in some form or another but no one loves them more than Americans. It’s not uncommon for the couple of doughnut shops we have in town to run out of doughnuts by mid-morning. You gotta get there early and be prepared to stand in line if you want to be able to snag a few of your favorites. I love plain sugared doughnuts myself and whoever invented maple bacon doughnuts deserves a medal!

If you’ve ever been to a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop, you know just how mesmerizing it is to watch those sweet little rings move slowly along on the conveyer from formation, to frying, to glazing. And the first bite of that still warm, light-as-air confection makes you feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven.

This bread pudding is a great way to use up leftover donuts. It’s wonderful served plain on its own, but that being said, you’ve got to try it with my coffee cream sauce. After all, as most American cops can tell you, nothing goes better with a doughnut than coffee. Yum!

DOUGHNUT BREAD PUDDING

• 1 doz. plain glazed doughnuts
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ tsp. salt

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9 x 13″ baking dish.
2. Cut each doughnut into 8 pieces.
3. Arrange the doughnut pieces in the buttered baking dish.
4. Make custard by whisking together eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, and salt until well blended.
5. Pour the custard evenly over the doughnut pieces in the baking dish.
6. Gently press the pieces down into the liquid so they all get soaked with custard.
7. Let sit for at least 15 minutes to give the doughnuts time to absorb the custard. If you like a softer, more custardy texture, let the doughnuts soak for a longer period of time.
8. Bake the pudding for 30-35 minutes or until the custard is set. It’s okay if the center jiggles slightly when you shake it.
9. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

NOTE:

• This recipe can easily be halved and baked in a 9×9-inch square baking dish if you’re feeding less people.
  
• You can also make this dish in advance. Just follow the recipe from Step 2 to 7, then cover the casserole and place in refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove casserole from refrigerator and let sit on counter for at least 30 minutes to bring to room temperature before continuing with Step 8.

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Basic Pancakes

This is my mom’s pancake recipe. She always said that pancakes were the easiest breakfast to make. And the easiest recipe to remember. In fact, you didn’t really need a recipe according to Mom. It was just “1-1-1.” One of everything except for the salt which you cut in half. Funny thing….. Mom was right! Not only is this an easy recipe to make, but it makes delicious, fluffy pancakes. The trick is not to overmix the batter. You want to gently stir the flour and baking powder into the liquid ingredients until the flour is just moistened and you’ve broken up any large lumps. Little lumps are okay. As Mom put it, “don’t worry about it. They’ll disappear during cooking.”

This recipe makes about 4 pancakes (more if you make small ones) but the nice thing is that you can easily double, triple or quadruple the recipe if you’re feeding more than two people. Set out some butter and syrup and have at it!

BASIC PANCAKES

• 1 cup flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole milk (substitute buttermilk for buttermilk pancakes)
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• ½ tsp. salt

1. In a medium bowl, beat the egg, milk, sugar, and salt together until well-blended.
2. Add the flour and baking powder, and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix! You want your batter to be lumpy.
3. Let the batter rest for about 10 minutes to give any lumps a chance to absorb some moisture.
4. While the batter’s resting, preheat your griddle to 375°F.
5. Spread a little butter or margarine on the griddle and pour a scoop of batter onto it. Try not to put too much batter. Remember, the bigger the pancake, the harder it is to flip. You want about  1/3 cup of batter per pancake.
6. When the pancake is starting to get filled with bubbles and the edges start looking dry, that’s your sign that it’s time to flip the pancake over.
7. After you flip it over, it takes only a minute or two for the other side to cook.
8. Serve warm with butter and syrup.

VARIATIONS:  You can add things like blueberries, sliced bananas, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, etc. to the pancake batter for a variation on the basic recipe.

Waffled Biscuits and Gravy

My sister-in-law, Anna, loves Biscuits and Gravy. It’s one of her favorite American breakfasts. Whenever she comes to visit, we always make sure to go out for breakfast and invariably, that’s what she orders. Biscuits and Gravy is an old American favorite, especially down south. It’s literally a biscuit topped with sausage gravy, sometimes also called Sawmill Gravy.

For this recipe, instead of just baking my biscuits in the oven, I cooked them in a waffle iron. The little wells made by the waffle iron made perfect little pockets to catch more of the savory gravy. Yum! Added to that, they looked so darn cute! If you don’t have a waffle iron or you’re feeling lazy to pull it out, just bake your biscuits in the oven like normal.

WAFFLED BISCUITS AND GRAVY

• 1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3 cups milk
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. dried sage, optional
• 1/4 tsp. pepper, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 8 biscuits, homemade or purchased refrigerated biscuit dough (like Pillsbury)
• butter for greasing the waffle iron

1. Brown sausage in a medium pot, breaking up with a spoon, until completely cooked.
2. Sprinkle in the flour and stir till flour is all absorbed.
3. Pour in the milk, stirring well.
4. Add green onions, sage, pepper, and salt. If using refrigerated biscuits, you may want to omit the salt because store-bought biscuits are pretty darn salty.
5. Continue to cook, stirring until thickened.
6. Cover and keep warm over low heat.
7. Preheat waffle iron on medium-high heat. Brush center lightly with melted butter.
8. Place 1 biscuit round into waffle iron and gently close without pushing down.
9. Cook halfway, then close lid completely and continue cooking until biscuits are golden and cooked through.
10. Repeat with remaining biscuits.
11. To serve, place a biscuit on a plate and top with sausage gravy.

French Coconut Pie

Unlike its name, French Coconut Pie did not originate in France but was actually invented in America. Wherever it originated from, it’s one of the easiest pies you’ll ever make and tastes amazing to boot! You can make your own pie crust if you want to. I have a great recipe for homemade pie crust here. Or you could just purchase a ready-made pie shell from the grocery and save yourself some work. Either way, this pie turns out delicious! It’s literally a pie to die for.

FRENCH COCONUT PIE

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 deep-dish 9-inch pie shell, purchased or homemade

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Bake pie crust for 18-25 minutes until lightly golden on the edges.
3. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl until well combined.
4. Pour filling into pre-baked pie crust. Crust doesn’t have to be cool for this step.
5. Bake 45-55 minutes or until lightly browned and custard is set.
6. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour, before serving.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

It’s blueberry season! Every year, my sister Helen takes her daughters blueberry picking with a bunch of their school friends and their families. They go to this blueberry farm up in the hills and have an absolute blast while they’re there. Helen’s youngest daughter, Sophie, is a little blueberry-picking speed-demon and can fill up a bucket faster than you can say blueberry pie!

Anyway, whenever they go, they always make sure to bring me back a bagful of the beautiful little blue gems. This year was no exception. The berries are always so sweet and juicy. If you’ve never had blueberries fresh off the bush, you’ve got to find a way to try some. Commercially sold blueberries are good, but they pale in comparison to these ones. I think it’s time for some Blueberry Buttermilk Cake!

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE

• 2 – 2½ cups fresh blueberries
• 3 cups flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup demerara sugar (or white granulated sugar)

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. Place blueberries in a small bowl.
3. Take 2 tablespoons of the flour and toss it with the blueberries. Coating the blueberries with flour helps keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake as it bakes.
4. Combine remaining flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
5. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
6. Add vanilla and beat in eggs, one at a time.
7. Beat in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, in three additions until completely combined.
8. Fold in blueberries.
9. Spread batter in prepared baking pan.
10. Sprinkle top evenly with demerara sugar.
11. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
12. Cake can be served warm or cool completely before serving.

NOTE:  If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own homemade buttermilk by placing 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to the cup till it reaches the 1-cup line. Let stand for 5 minutes, then whisk with a wire whisk for a few seconds.

S’Mores Cookie Cups

S’mores are a classic American camp out dessert. There’s nothing like roasting marshmallows over an open fire. It sure brings back memories of camping with my family up in Yosemite. Sadly, Old Goat Honey is just not the outdoorsy type and he hates camping so I never get to go anymore. But, no big deal. I created these cookies in response to that little obstacle. These cookies have all the flavor of traditional S’mores without any camping involved. Now I can honestly say that I don’t miss camping at all!

S’MORES COOKIE CUPS

[Makes about 36 cookies]

Graham Cracker Cookies:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 can (14 ozs.) condensed milk
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat condensed milk and butter together until smooth.
4. Reduce speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients to condensed milk mixture, beating until just combined.
5. Spray wells of mini muffin pans with cooking spray.
6. Fill each well with one tablespoon of cookie dough.
7. Bake for 8 minutes.
8. Allow to cool for 15 minutes or until cool enough to touch, then spin each cookie in its well to loosen it and make sure it isn’t stuck to the muffin pan.
9. Set pans aside and let cookies cool completely in the pans.

Chocolate Ganache:

• 4 ozs. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 6 Tbsp. heavy cream

1. Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
2. In a heavy saucepan, heat cream until just simmering.
3. Pour hot cream over chocolate chips and let sit for a few minutes.
4. Stir together with a rubber spatula until smooth.

To Assemble Cookies:

• graham cracker cookie cups
• chocolate ganache
• 1 bag marshmallows

1. Turn broiler on high.
2. Transfer cookie cups to parchment lined cookie sheets. Arrange them so they’re about 1-inch apart because the marshmallows puff up when you broil them.
3. Cut marshmallows in half with scissors dipped in flour. You’ll have to wash and dry the scissors after every few marshmallows or they get too sticky.
4. Spread a little chocolate ganache on top of each cookie cup.
5. Place a marshmallow half, cut side down, on top of each cookie cup.
6. Broil until marshmallows are golden brown. Watch carefully so you don’t burn the marshmallows.

NOTE:

• If any any of the cookies did happen to be a little too close to the one next to it so the marshmallow toppings touched and stuck to each other during baking, no worries. Just let the cookies cool completely. Then pull them slightly away from each other so you can see where to cut, and snip them apart with scissors dipped in flour.
• I like to use jumbo campfire marshmallows. I snip them horizontally into three pieces because I think half is too much, then I use the top and bottom halves, placing them cut side down on top of each cookie. I save the center portion of the marshmallows to make rice crispy treats or to float on top of hot cocoa.
• You could also use mini marshmallows and arrange them on top of each cookie to resemble a flower shape.

Gluten Free Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I keep trying to create gluten free recipes for my daughter, Spunky. It’s not always easy though. Especially with baked goods. You usually have to use 2 or 3 different non-wheat flours, and add specialty ingredients like xanthan gum, guar gum, gelatin, or agar-agar. And some things just don’t turn out right when you try to convert them using commercial gluten free flours.

That’s why I was so happy to discover Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour at my local grocery store. My sour cream coffee cake turned out great with it! It really took the guesswork out of converting an old family favorite into a gluten free recipe. I decided to research and learned that there are other brands of cup-for-cup flour replacements out there like King Arthur Flour’s Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour, or Cup4Cup Gluten Free Multipurpose Flour, but since Bob’s Red Mill is what my local grocery store carries, that’s what I used for this recipe. I’ll have to experiment and test the other brands someday. If you have a favorite cup-for-cup gluten free replacement flour, feel free to try it out with this recipe and then let me know how it turned out.

GLUTEN FREE SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

• 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cups butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream

Streusel

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan or angel food cake pan.
2. Mix streusel ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In another bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
4. With an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla until fluffy.
5. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream.
7. Spread half the batter in the pan, then sprinkle half the streusel over it. Top with the rest of the batter, and finish with the remaining streusel.
8. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
9. Cool cake in pan for 10-15 minutes, then loosen from sides of pan with a knife.
10. Remove cake from pan and place topping side up on a serving plate.

NOTES:

• You can substitute buttermilk or yogurt in place of the sour cream in this recipe.
• This cake can be made in a 9×13-inch rectangular baking pan. If you prefer to use a 9×13-inch pan, I would just pour all the batter into the pan and then sprinkle all the streusel on top. It’s a pain to make the layers, though it can certainly be done. Just bear in mind that you’ll have to spread the batter really thinly if you want layers.

Wedge Salad with Bacon Buttermilk Dressing

Wedge Salad is a typical salad served at classic American steak houses as a starter to your meal. It’s traditionally served with crumbled blue cheese and blue cheese dressing, but blue cheese isn’t one of my kids’ favorite cheeses. I love wedge salad, though, so here’s a version I make for them without any blue cheese in it. If you find you’re really missing the blue cheese flavor, go ahead and sprinkle some crumbled blue cheese on your salad. It’s all good!

WEDGE SALAD

(Makes 4 servings)

• 1 small head iceberg lettuce
• 6 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 slices sturdy white bread, crusts removed
• 3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
• garlic salt, to taste (optional)
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• chives, minced (for garnish)

1. Cut the lettuce into 4 wedges and place them in the refrigerator to keep cold until ready to use.
2. Fry the bacon until crisp, then transfer to paper towels to drain.
3. Dice the white bread into small cubes, a little less than a half-inch big.
4. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet and fry bread cubes, stirring often, until golden and crispy.
5. Season bread cubes with garlic salt to taste, if desired.
6. Assemble the salad by placing one wedge of lettuce on each of 4 salad plates.
7. Pour some dressing over each wedge.
8. Top with a little tomato, onion, bacon, and croutons.
9. Garnish with minced chives, if desired.

BACON BUTTERMILK DRESSING

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

1. Place all ingredients into bowl of a food processor and process until combined.
2. Chill until ready to serve.

NOTE:  Dressing can be made up to 2 days in advance and kept chilled in the fridge.

Corned Beef Tater Tot Casserole

This is another dish that’s going on my Christmas Breakfast table this year. It’s a play on one I saw from the Food Network Kitchens a couple of years ago. It’s different because it’s made with tater tots instead of the usual hash browns. I use canned corned beef which is more readily available year round from my local grocery store. If you prefer to use fresh corned beef, by all means go for it! Just chop 1½ pounds fresh corned beef into ½-inch cubes and use it in place of the canned corned beef in this recipe.

CORNED BEEF TATER TOT CASSEROLE

• 1 bag (32 ozs.) frozen tater tots
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped
• ½ green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cans (12 ozs. each) corned beef
• 8 large eggs
• 1½ cups whole milk
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.
2. Set aside about 2 cups of the tater tots to use for topping.
3. Arrange remaining tater tots in single layer on bottom of prepared baking dish.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the tater tots or spray lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake about 25 minutes or until tater tots are golden brown. Set aside to cool.
6. In large skillet set over medium-high heat, sauté onions, red and green peppers.
7. Add corned beef and cook, breaking up corned beef with the back of a spoon and stirring together well. Allow to cool.
8. Whisk eggs together in a bowl, then whisk in milk, mustard, salt and pepper.
9. Spread corned beef mixture over cheese.
10. Pour egg mixture over everything. If making ahead, cover the casserole at this point and refrigerate overnight.
11. To cook, remove casserole from refrigerator at least 30 minutes before baking.
12. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
13. Scatter reserved 2 cups tater tots over casserole.
14. Top with shredded cheese.
15. Bake until egg mixture is set and top is golden brown, 55 – 60 minutes.

Breakfast Corn Casserole

This is a great casserole to serve for breakfast on a weekend morning. I’m making it for Christmas breakfast this year actually. It’s easy to do and better still, you can make it a day in advance. I like to serve this casserole with a bowl of salsa on the side. Yum!

BREAKFAST CORN CASSEROLE

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 ozs. chopped fresh kale
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves (can substitute dried)
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 cans cream-style corn
• 1 lb. ham, diced
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 box cornbread mix (like Krusteaz or Marie Callenders)
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 pyrex glass baking dish.
2. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add onions, kale, thyme, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until kale is soft and onions are translucent.
4. Add corn, ham, and sour cream, and cook until hot and bubbly.
5. Pour corn mixture into prepared baking dish; set aside. If making ahead, cover and refrigerate overnight at this point.
6. Next day, remove casserole from refrigerator at least half an hour before baking.
7. Prepare the cornbread batter according to directions on the back of the package.
8. Stir 1 cup cheese into cornbread batter.
9. Pour cornbread batter over corn mixture in baking dish.
10. Top with remaining 1 cup cheese.
11. Bake for 35 minutes or until corn is bubbling and corn bread topping is done.