Breakfast Part 2,3 and 4: Ellie Krieger’s Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal, Apple-Pecan Muffins, and Peach French Toast Bake
This is the post that could not be written. Every single time I tried to sit down to write, nothing would come. I felt determined to finish it once I kept seeing people were arriving to my blog while searching for the Ellie Krieger things I’ve said I’ve made on my sidebar tracker. So in continuing on with my quest to eat healthier, my obsession with all things breakfast related, as well as Ellie Krieger recipes from The Food You Crave, I bring to you the following three breakfast ideas.
First up we have Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal.
I love oatmeal. The only problem is it’s a tad bland unless you’re eating one of the sugar laden instant kinds (the kind that I know and love so much). To me, oatmeal was never something you broke out a recipe for. Until now. I’ve made this probably 20 times. It’s perfect. It’s old fashioned oats mixed with cherry jam, dried cherries, vanilla and milk. There’s no added sugar but I found it was sweet enough from the jam alone. I’ve adapted to making it in the microwave with no problems.
Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal Recipe on Food Network
Second, I offer to you Apple-Pecan Muffins.
I absolutely loved these. I made a full batch and they were gone in about 10 minutes around here. I thought about adapting this recipe into a loaf. It would make a really good apple bread. You must make these muffins soon, I’m not kidding. They’re made with whole wheat pastry flour and brown sugar. Applesauce and buttermilk add tons of moistness.
Apple-Pecan Muffin recipe on Food Network
And last but certainly not least, we have Peach French Toast Bake.
This one intrigued me from the first time I came across the recipe. Not sure why because I really don’t care for French Toast that much. (Although, I’m considering trying to come around. Matt, my blogging friend, recently featured a Crème Brûlée French Toast that looks pretty good.)
Anyway, this Peach French Toast couldn’t be easier. You make it the night before so in the morning all you have to do is turn on the oven and bake. A whole wheat baguette is the base underneath a milk and egg mixture that’s topped with frozen peaches, brown sugar and cinnamon. Ooooh Mama! It’s only lightly sweet which I think makes it really good.
Watch the video for making Peach French Toast Bake here
Ahh, it feels so good to clear this draft out of my posts. The bottom line is you can’t really go wrong with a healthy breakfast. Remember kids, it’s the best way to start your day. And Ellie Krieger can do no wrong right now with me. Everything I’ve tried of hers has been good.
The recipe links again:
Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal
Apple-Pecan Muffins
Watch the video for making Peach French Toast Bake
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler – TWD (My 20th)
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection of Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake. The TWD group just recently made a Cobbler back in June (see Mixed Berry Cobbler) but I definitely didn’t mind making another one. These are the types of desserts my boyfriend will eat. Any time I don’t have to severely cut down a recipe to try to get as few servings as I can for just myself, it’s a good baking day. Plus, this cobbler recipe is very different from the last one we did. The obvious difference is the fruit that’s used but maybe less obvious is how different the topping is. The Mixed Berry Cobbler topping was plainer and was rolled out like a pie crust. The Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler topping is 1/2 whole wheat, jazzed up with ginger, rolled into little balls of dough and placed over the filling.
Rhubarb was a challenge to find. I went a couple places around here looking for it, but no rhubarb. Then I thought about trying a store near where I worked instead. The town I work in is a little fancier than the town I live in and the store I went to down there had absolutely EVERYTHING. Rhubarb, Dulce de Leche, Grape Leaves, Figs, Mascarpone, all kinds of jams and spreads… everything I’ve needed that I’ve had serious trouble finding. All in one place. The rhubarb I got was expensive but it was as big as a sword. I could’ve had a good old fashioned rhubarb fight. I’ve only ever seen it little celery sized stalks so that kind of surprised me.
What I changed: I used soy milk instead of regular milk in the topping. I used frozen cherries instead of fresh.
What I did: I followed the recipe exactly, except for using soy milk. One tiny mistake I made was I added the milk to the topping mixture before I was supposed to. I just dumped all the ingredients in and mixed at the same time. This gave me no problems, it turned out fine. Dorie says to peel the rhubarb but I only peeled it a little bit. I just took off any of the outside that looked like it needed to be removed. It just seemed like too much of a hassle to do the whole thing.
What I thought: I preferred this at room temperature instead of warm. The ginger gave it a real kick and a little bit of an aftertaste, but it wasn’t too much or overwhelming. I liked the addition of whole wheat flour in the topping a lot. The rhubarb and cherries together was an interesting flavor combo. I’ve only ever had strawberry and rhubarb. At times, the filling was kind of tart (which I expected it would be), but the crust did a nice job of evening out the taste.
This marks my 20th completed Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (which brings my total to 23 recipes made from Baking From My Home to Yours). I still have every intention on catching up on recipes that I wasn’t a member for, but I’ve taken a couple weeks off on the “Blast from TWD Past” posts. I’m getting extremely busy now that summer is in full swing and my stomach is pooching out a bit more than usual from all the good food that’s been created in my kitchen lately. Once things slow down and my three mile long walks become a habit, I’ll get back to the catching up posts. I’ve only got ten more recipes to go. That’s nothin’.
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from page 415 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. Head on over to Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake to see how Amanda’s Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler turned out and to see the recipe. Then make your way to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to take a look at everyone else’s Cobbler creations.
Next week, Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs has chosen Summer Fruit Galette. See you next Tuesday!
