Apple Cream Cheese Danishes

After a recent outing to an apple orchard, I found myself with an abundance of apples.  I plan to make a pie, but in the meantime I've been enjoying a modified version of these apple dumplings found on Southern Bite.  I was suspicious of the Sprite used in the recipe, but after searching similar recipes found some used Mt. Dew, others used Sprite, etc., so clearly the carbonation was doing... something... to help with these.  I shrugged and ran with it, and have no regrets.  What I DID change was to sneak some cream cheese and cinnamon sugar inside these ooey gooey dumplings, which I am re-branding as danishes.

Apple Cream Cheese Danishes
Makes 8

Ingredients

• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced into 8 slices
• 1 tube crescent rolls (8 count)
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (mixture of ~1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 6 oz Sprite

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a square baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Unroll the crescent rolls and separate into triangles.  Spread a bit of cream cheese along the bottom of each triangle.  Place an apple slice on top.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar.  Roll up in crescent roll dough and pinch seams closed.
3. Place danishes in prepared baking dish, evenly spaced.
4. Mix melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a medium bowl until well combined.  Pour over danishes.
5. Pour Sprite down center and sides of baking dish (not over the danishes themselves).
6. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until tops are golden and danishes are baked all the way through.

I wish you could smell these!

Just your basic white girl, wearing a scarf, loving fall, and baking all things apple and pumpkin.

Nutella French Toast Rolls

Every once in a while, the internet presents you with something so amazing, so perfect, that it MUST be a part of your life immediately.  This week, the internet blessed me with Nutella rolls.  A friend posted a pic on FB, I needed info STAT, her husband shared the very simple recipe, and I made them tonight.  Heaven.

EXTRA LARGE PIC FOR EXTRA LARGE DELICIOSITY.

Ingredients

• Slice of bread, crusts cut off, rolled thin
• ~1 tablespoon Nutella per slice of bread
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Pat of butter
• Cinnamon sugar to sprinkle on top

Directions

1. Cut crusts from bread and roll out with a rolling pin.  Spread Nutella down the center of each slice of bread.  Roll up one nutella-free side to the other.
2. Set a pan on medium heat and melt a pat of butter in the pan.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and milk with a fork.  Dredge rolled bread in egg mixture and shake off excess.
4. Lay rolled bread gently in heated pan and cook until golden on each side, about 1-2 minutes per side.
5. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar as soon as removed from pan.  Serve warm.

What is so perfect about this recipe is that you can quickly whip up just a couple rolls as a snack like my pregnant self did, or churn out a dozen in short order for breakfast or dessert with the family.

It's a new world, people.  A delicious new world.

Cinnamon and Cream Cheese Monkey Bread

This recipe is like the snow leopard of Pinterest.  There's a rare sighting, and when you track it down for exact info it is elusive.  Many pins are just to pictures, but not the source recipe.  Contributing to this is the fact that the site with the real recipe has been requesting that the pins be taken down.  So when I thought I saw a legitimate pin resurface, I was excited.  When it went to a non-recipe site, I was frustrated, and finally googled the recipe, determined to hunt it down.  HERE IT IS, from pip & ebby.  Muahahaha.

As part of my 4th of July day of treats, which I decided on at the early date of July 2, this would be the main attraction for breakfast.  SO worth it, and also really simple.  I can't put words to the wonderful smell as it baked, the warm delicious mix of flavors, and how it was so easy to eat too much.  I will say that despite my (silly) misgivings that this was too much for just the 3 of us, this was perfectly fine as a family meal.  We have leftovers for the next day or two and that is JUST fine by me.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of cream cheese, cut into 20 cubes
• 2 tubes of refrigerated buttermilk biscuit dough (20 biscuits total)
• 2/3 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 3/4 cups butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the sugars and cinnamon.  Set aside.
3. Cut the cream cheese into 20 cubes (picture below).
4. Open up the tubes of biscuit dough, and separate out the biscuits- you should have 20 in total.
5. Place a cube of cream cheese on top of each biscuit, then pull up the sides of the biscuit around the cream cheese, so you have a little mound of dough and cream cheese.  The dough does not have to completely cover the cream cheese.
6. Place 10 of the biscuits in the bundt pan cream cheese side up.  They'll fit in snugly.  Cover with half the sugar mixture (about 2/3 cups) and drizzle with half of the butter (about 1/3 cup).
7. Place the remaining biscuits in the bundt pan, cream cheese side down.  Cover with the remaining sugar mixture and remaining butter.
8. Bake for 40 minutes.  Place a plate on top, and gently invert.  There will likely be some butter/sugary sauce oozing around, so be prepared for a little mess.  But I promise it will be ok.  ;)  Serve warm, and refrigerate leftovers.

It felt too early to do math, even simple math like "cut the butter into 4 rows, and then cut into 5 rows to get 20 pieces".  Fortunately, I powered through and took a pic for easy future reference.

These were the biscuits I used.  They come already sliced into 10 biscuits- wee!

OH. MY. GOD.  Amazeballs.

Well hello there gooey wonderful cream cheese filling.

Brussels Sprouts Breakfast Hash

How Sweet It Is is taking over my weekly dinner menu, as well as the sweets recipe book for pot lucks, bake sales, etc.  This latest meal was right up my alley, and so chock full of vegetables hidden by delicious bacon-ness I refuse to feel guilty about eating it.  This would be a fantastic vegetarian dish swapped out with some Morningstar bacon.

And it's totally fine to make this for dinner.  Doesn't even feel like a cop out like when all I have energy for is pancakes for dinner.  This is legit.  :)

Ingredients

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 10-12 Brussels sprouts, stems removed and sliced
• 3-4 large eggs (one per serving)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add bacon.  Cook until crispy, remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on a paper towel.
2. Reduce the heat a little and saute the onion and sweet potato in the bacon fat.  Cook until the sweet potato has softened, about 6-8 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
3. Add sliced Brussels sprouts, stirring to combine well.  Cook until soft and have that caramel fragrance (5-10 minutes).  Prepare eggs as desired while sprouts are cooking.  Serve with toast for extra comforty goodness.

Look at all that awesome stuff going on.  Veggie hash, the eggs, and bacon in its lil bowl off to the side.  MMM.

Sausage and Stuffing Criss-Cross Pastry

I got this recipe from a coworker, who found it on a blog, reposted from Pepperidge Farm.  I definitely modified this from the original, and I tend to use it as a weekend brunch.  It's touted as a good holiday side, and it certainly was a hit when I made it with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in the past, but there's no reason to restrict this to holiday fare!  It's really very similar to a sausage pastie, which is recognized (smartly so) as an anytime food.

Ingredients

• 1/2 of a 17.3-oz pkg. Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed*
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 lb bulk pork sausage
• 1 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon garlic butter (to make your own, stir a couple shakes of garlic powder into 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter)

*It is very easy to double this recipe, making two at once so that you use both pastry sheets and the full 1 lb tube of sausage.  You can make the second one (just skip the egg wash and putting in the oven), wrap in wax paper and aluminum foil, and freeze in a gallon freezer bag.  Just thaw out and bake at a later date.

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Beat 1 egg and the water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk and set aside.
2. Mix the sausage, cheese, parsley, stuffing, remaining egg, and onion in a large bowl.
3. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.  Cut slits 1 inch apart from the outer edge to the fold mark on each side of the pastry sheet.
4. Spoon the sausage mixture down the center of the pastry and shape to evenly fill.
5. Starting at one end, fold the pastry strips over the sausage mixture, alternating sides, to cover the mixture completely.
6. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
7. Place the pastry on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the egg wash.
8. Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the sausage is cooked through.
9. Brush with garlic butter and let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Breakfast Panini with Strawberries

Well I've been in love with these blueberry paninis I posted last month, and today decided to try using minced strawberries instead of blueberries.  The blueberries aren't in season anymore, so rather than spend $5 for a small container, I spent $2.50 for a bin of strawberries.  One of my favorite guilty pleasures is a strawberry cream cheese danish, so I knew the flavors would work!  Sure enough, they did, even if this recipe is definitely messier than the blueberry one.  Fair warning. ;-)

Ingredients (for each panini)

• 1 oz of cream cheese
• 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar
• 2 large strawberries, minced
• 2 slices of bread
• Butter

Directions

1. Heat panini press or large pan.
2. Microwave cream cheese for 10 seconds to soften.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, sugar, and strawberries.
4. Butter outside of both slices of bread.
5. Spoon strawberry filling into sandwich.
6. Grill on panini press or in a pan for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.

Honey Cinnamon Pancakes

I came up with these pancakes a couple years ago and absolutely LOVE them.  I started with the Bisquick Supreme Pancake directions to make them super fluffy, and then added honey and cinnamon.  Aaahhhmazing.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bisquick powder
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Butter

Makes about 12 medium pancakes.

Directions

1. Melt some butter in a large pan over medium low heat.
2. Mix ingredients.
3. Pour approx. 1/4 cup of batter into pan for each pancake.
4. Flip pancakes when bubbles pop and edges begin to dry.
5. Cook just a minute or so more on the other side, until golden brown and cooked throughout.

Breakfast Panini with Blueberries

I came across this recipe on Pinterest yesterday, and loved the idea so much I couldn't wait to try it.  I made it for breakfast this morning and YUM.  The recipe doesn't provide measurements so my first try was just a stab in the dark at proportions, which I've shared below.  I'm sure I could have been more generous with the cream cheese and powdered sugar, so feel free to adjust as you like!

Breakfast Panini with Blueberries

Ingredients

• Cream cheese (about 1 tablespoons per sandwich)
• Powdered sugar (about 1 teaspoon per sandwich)
• Bread
• Blueberries (I used a lot- enough to have a single layer cover the slice. About 1/3 cup?)
• Butter

Directions

1. Heat panini press.
2. Microwave cream cheese in a small bowl for just a few seconds to soften.
3. Mix powdered sugar with cream cheese.
4. Butter outside of sandwich.
5. Spread sweetened cream cheese on inside of one side of sandwich.
6. Place buttered side down on panini press. Top with second slice, buttered side on top.
7. Grill for about 1 minute.
8. Serve warm

Mini Frittatas

I came across this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis, one of my favorite Food Network people.  It was an instant hit with both my husband and 2-year-old son: the magic sweet spot of culinary pleasure.  As usual, though, I can't make it exactly as the recipe says.  One, I don't have mini muffin tins, and two, I don't always have fresh parsley.  So here are my modifications:

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

8 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or until you feel like "meh, that's enough")

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup thinly sliced ham, chopped

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves (or 1 tablespoon dried parsley)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray 1 muffin tin (with 12 muffin cups) with nonstick spray.  Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well.  Stir in the ham, cheese, and parsley.  Fill prepared muffin cups with about 1/4 cup egg mixture each.  I like to use a measuring cup to scoop up the mixture, scraping against the bottom so I get a good bit of egg, ham, and parsley in each scoop.

Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 10-12 minutes for the regular-size muffin cups.  Using a rubber spatula or spoon, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide onto a platter.  Serve immediately.

3-4 servings

I like to use a spoon to loosen and scoop things like this because it can actually curve under the frittata, unlike the spatula.

These are a great breakfast for dinner meal, served with toast and honey like I did tonight.  I've also had them with hash browns, sausage, or bacon.  It's the perfect amount for the three of us on a weeknight, and only takes about 15 minutes to make.