Category Archives: Breakfast

Blueberry Boy Bait (two ways)

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Breakfast, Cake, Dessert, Quickbread and tagged with ,

Spring has definitely sprung over here with a high of 72 yesterday (followed by a couple inches of snow this morning), and the warm weather has gotten me thinking about the berry pies and lemony goodness that become more popular in the coming season. I decided something blueberry was definitely in order and perused my bookmarks and Pinterest boards in hopes of seeing something that piqued my interest.

Blueberry Boy Bait {{Baking Bytes}}

It didn’t work (ha) but I did ultimately remember a fabulous blueberry dish I made at home several years ago called Blueberry Boy Bait. The name has always made me giggle and the dish is amazing. A quick Google search brought me right to the lovely post from Smitten Kitchen I so fondly recalled.

Before we get much further, please bear in mind there is absolutely nothing healthy about this. It’s cake. I know there’s no frosting, but it’s like 90% butter (slight exaggeration) and 100% delicious and you should definitely make some. Just know that this is not a health food, and if you’re looking for one of those you should bake some Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins instead.

Blueberry Boy Bait {{Baking Bytes}}

Still here? Excellent. Rich and buttery, fluffy and moist, brimming with blueberries, and topped with a cinnamon & sugar coating I always adore, it’s hard to have just one piece. After making it again, I’m honestly not sure why I waited so long and it will definitely be put in a more regular baking rotation. It pairs equally well with a cup of coffee for breakfast or snack, and a glass of milk for dessert. Or a handful straight from the cooling rack to your mouth because you “accidentally” didn’t grease the pan well enough and had to hide the evidence.

Blueberry Boy Bait {{Baking Bytes}}

The blueberries do always sink to the bottom for me, but I consider this a feature rather than a problem, as it results in a perfectly proportioned cake-to-blueberry ratio with every bite. The cake is somewhat fragile, so be careful removing it from the pan. If you’re concerned about presentation, you could bake them in a muffin tin with paper liners instead, but I have not personally tried this.

Blueberry Boy Bait - Lemon {{Baking Bytes}}

Since spring was in the air, I tried a lemony version as well. I definitely prefer the original, but this is a nice alternative if you’re in the mood for it.

Blueberry Boy Bait

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 8×8″ dish

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar

1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup whole milk (2% worked great)

1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)
1 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8×8″ baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease the paper too.
  2. Add butter and sugars to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for about two minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
  4. Add eggs to butter mixture one at a time, mixing until just incorporated and scraping the bowl between each one.
  5. Alternate adding flour (1/3 at a time) and milk, starting and ending with flour.
  6. Toss 1/4 cup blueberries with remaining one tablespoon flour and fold into batter. (It won’t look like enough, but I promise it doesn’t need more.)
  7. Spread into prepared pan and sprinkle additional 1/4 cup blueberries onto the batter. Mix together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle about half over the top.
  8. Bake about 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top doesn’t look super wet.
  9. Immediately sprinkle with additional cinnamon & sugar topping (optional but recommended). Cool at least 20 minutes in the pan before serving.
  10. Attempt to not eat the entire pan in one sitting, but fail deliciously.

Blueberry Boy Bait - Lemon {{Baking Bytes}}

Lemon Blueberry Boy Bait

Make as above except substitute 3 tablespoons of milk with lemon juice. Omit cinnamon sugar topping. Whisk 3/4 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice and use to lightly glaze cooled cake.

Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Bread, Breakfast, Quickbread and tagged with , ,

Apple Cinnamon Muffins {{Baking Bytes}}Hello hello. Hope your year is going splendidly. So far January has been pretty good and I’m looking forward to February. Hopefully winter will come back as our ski area could definitely use some more snow. But it’s open so I’m not complaining too much. Last week I ran in shorts which is a little strange for January in Montana, so I wouldn’t mind if it cooled down a bit.

Apple cinnamon muffins with crumb topping

Apple cinnamon muffins with crumb topping

In any case, I’ve been in an apple mood the last couple weeks and while I was deciding what to make I recalled the muffins I made during a semester abroad in Scotland. All I could remember is that the recipe was on allrecipes.com and there was a crazy amount of apple in it. And it took forever to chop it all by hand. After some dedicated searching, some slight modifications, and two batches of muffins, I have the recipe here to share.

Apple cinnamon muffins with raw sugar topping

Apple cinnamon muffins with raw sugar topping

These muffins are moist and bursting with apples. A sweet topping (if you want) and the addition of cinnamon make these a lovely treat or breakfast for any time of the year. Chopping the apples will be very quick if you employ the use of a corer/peeler contraption, but even by hand it’s definitely worth the effort.

Apple cinnamon muffins sans topping.

Apple cinnamon muffins sans topping.

The original recipe calls for a sugar crumb topping which is excellent, but the muffins are also great with just a dusting of raw sugar or just plain. I imagine they’d also be great with some regular cinnamon and sugar on top although I haven’t tried this. I promise to do so next time.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins {{Baking Bytes}}

Whatever weather has graced your corner of the world, these muffins will be a delicious addition to your day.

Note: This is not a recipe to use up old apples. The apple is VERY prominent so make sure you pick good ones that you’d be fine eating plain.

Cinnamon Apple Muffins

Adapted from AllRecipes
Makes 12-15 muffins

Ingredients

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 egg

2 apples1 

Topping:
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Liberally grease a muffin pan or line with paper liners.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients until well blended. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients until well blended. Set aside.
  4. Peel, core, and chop the apples into small pieces. Set aside.
  5. If desired, mix the topping ingredients with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture comes together. It should be well mixed but crumbly.
  6. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and gently mix with a spatula until moistened. Batter will be thick.
  7. Gently stir in the apples until they are evenly distributed. Apple to batter ratio will look very high, but this is normal.
  8. Fill muffin wells 2/3 – 3/4 full and sprinkle with topping mix, raw sugar, or leave plain.
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Notes

1 I used jazz apples because that’s what I had on hand, but any green or pinkish variety should be great.

Overnight Baked French Toast & Blueberry Sauce

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Breakfast, Celebration/Holiday, Sauces and Frostings and tagged with , , ,

Hello hello! It’s 2015! Fun fact, the year 2030 is now closer than the year 1999. Crazy.

I was originally intending to start off the year with a savory dish to contrast the sugar overload that is December, but I changed my mind. If you want savory, I suggest you look at last year’s post.

Overnight Baked French Toast & Blueberry Sauce {{Baking Bytes}}

I was lucky enough to be able to take two weeks off work over the holidays, so I spent Christmas at home in Alaska. Unfortunately, Alaska forgot it was winter and didn’t have any snow, so no skiing for me, but I did run over 20 miles that week, my highest mileage week of the year. And I’ve got lots of skiing in since returning to Montana.

Prior to this trip, I’d been eyeing this recipe for well over a month but never had a good reason to make it. I sneakily offered to make breakfast for Christmas Day, and I don’t think anyone minded. I made a substantially less sweet version than the original and I thought it was the perfect amount of sweetness, especially if you’re planning to serve it with regular pancake syrup. I made a quick blueberry sauce as a topping and I’m pretty sure I’ll never eat it any other way. Well, maybe a different fruit. I bet blackberry would be awesome too.

Overnight Baked French Toast & Blueberry Sauce {{Baking Bytes}}

In any case, this is a great meal for the holidays as it doesn’t require much time in the morning, but it would be equally great any time of the year. Just make sure you leave enough time in the morning for it to bake to your desired consistency. and you’re good to go. (You can always put it in the oven and go back to bed for an hour, I won’t judge.) We had it with a side of scrambled eggs and bacon for a well-rounded meal.

Oh yeah: Blueberry sauce. This stuff is super easy and super delicious, so you should definitely make a batch while the French toast is baking.

Overnight Baked French Toast & Blueberry Sauce {{Baking Bytes}}

Also: The French toast reheats decently well, but if you don’t have enough people to eat a 9×13 baking dish you can certainly halve the recipe. Or you can split the full recipe between two 8×8 pans and put one of them in the freezer after they’ve refrigerated overnight. Just let it thaw in the fridge the night before and bake as normal (although perhaps a little bit longer depending on how cold your fridge is.) The 8×8 pans bake for roughly the same amount of time as the 9×13 pans.

If you’re looking to please a crowd with very minimal effort, this is definitely the recipe for you! Or if you’re just looking to please yourself, even better. Just try not to eat the whole pan at once.

Overnight Baked French Toast

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Serves 8-12

Ingredients

1.5 lbs sourdough bread1 
8 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions

  1. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
  2. Tear or cut bread into bite-sized pieces and spread evenly into the pan.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until completely combined. Pour liquid gently and evenly over the bread.
  4. Cover dish tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  6. Retrieve dish from the fridge and use a large spoon to gently stir the mixture, so as to put the wetter pieces on top and the drier ones toward the bottom.2
  7. Bake 45-75 minutes (shorter time for closer to the texture of bread pudding, longer for a crispier texture.)3
  8. Serve immediately with toppings of choice.

Notes

1 You must use sourdough or some other kind of very dense bread.
2 This is not strictly necessary, but I found the texture to be more even throughout the dish after stirring.
3 I baked mine for just over an hour to avoid it being wet in the middle, although it was still quite soft. I will likely plan for 70 minutes in the future. If you think it’s getting too crispy on top, you can cover the pan with tinfoil for the last 20 minutes or so, but I haven’t found this necessary.

Blueberry Sauce {{Baking Bytes}}

Blueberry Sauce

Borrowed from My Baking Addiction
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp cold water

1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

Directions

  1. Combine blueberries, 1/2 cup water, sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until mixture comes to a low boil.
  2. Mix cornstarch and 2 Tbsp cold water until completely combined. Slowly stream into the blueberries, stirring constantly but gently, and simmer until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. (Cook less if you prefer a thinner sauce).
  3. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla and zest.
  4. Serve on your favorite French toast, pancakes, waffles, ice cream, or whatever needs some blueberry-fication.
  5. Store leftovers in the fridge and reheat leftovers as necessary.

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Breakfast, Quickbread and tagged with , ,

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had an awesome last couple weeks! My mom came to visit which was awesome not only because it’s great to hang out with my mom, but we repainted my bathroom. It has transformed from a gross lemon yellow into a delightful warm light-medium brown. HUGE difference. No longer do I look kind of sickly when I look in the mirror. No longer do I cringe every time I walk by. No longer do I stare at the walls wondering why someone would pick that color and why they did such a crap job of painting it. It’s magical. I’d post a picture but my bathroom is pretty small and it’s hard to get a reasonable one.

In any case, November has flown by and I can’t believe next week is already December. While pretty soon I’ll be making batches of almond roca and heading back to Alaska for Christmas, right now I’m still in full on fall flavor mode: apple and pumpkin. I’ll be making a pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving but this weekend I was feeling apple-y.Baked Apple Cider Donuts {{Baking Bytes}}

I actually came across this recipe a few months ago when it was crazy hot outside, so I filed it away to use at a later date. Fortunately, it comes together very quickly assuming you have all the ingredients on hand which makes it great for making on a whim.

Baked Apple Cider Donuts {{Baking Bytes}}

These donuts are not overwhelmingly apple flavored but it’s definitely there along with the spices. A cinnamon sugar coating pairs nicely for a cozy experience – kick it up a notch by having some hot cider on the side. They are denser than a fried donut, as the bake variety tends to be, but they are definitely lighter than a typical cake. If you don’t have a donut pan, you can bake them in a mini muffin tin as knockoff donut holes.

Run that Thanksgiving 5k (or go for a walk, or whatever) then come home and make a batch of these donuts while you’re prepping for dinner. It’ll be a great snack and won’t take up too much precious oven time. Just make sure you have a few people to help you eat them all.

Baked Apple Cider Donuts {{Baking Bytes}}

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
Makes12+ donuts

Ingredients

1 cup apple cider

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

1 egg (room temp)1 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/2 cup buttermilk (room temp)
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar
ground cinnamon, to taste

Directions

  1. Reduce the cider by pouring it into a small saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Measure out 1/2 cup and let it cool in the fridge while you mix the rest of the batter.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a donut pan (or two) or spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick spray and set aside.
  3. Whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, cloves, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and sugars until completely combined. Mixture will be grainy but consistent in color. Whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, and reduced 1/2 cup of cider.
  5. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Mixture should still be a bit lumpy – don’t over mix!
  6. For donuts: Scoop batter into a large Ziploc bag, snip the tip, and pipe the donut wells 2/3 – 3/4 full. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. For donut holes: Fill mini muffin wells 3/4 full and bake for 9-11 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  8. Let donuts cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.
  9. Mix together sugar and ground cinnamon to your preference. One at a time, dip still-warm donuts into the sugar and coat completely.
  10. Serve the same day if possible, but store any leftovers in an airtight container on the counter.

Notes

1 Put the egg in warm water for a few minutes to quickly bring it to room temperature. You can do the same with buttermilk by pouring it into a sealed container first.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Breakfast and tagged with ,

Ahh, fall.

Just kidding, it’s still in the 60’s here. But I can pretend right? Mid-October is definitely time for pumpkin so I whipped up these pumpkin Belgian waffles last weekend despite summer still hanging on. These waffles don’t need much up-selling so I’ll keep this short and sweet. I was actually originally planning on sharing a different recipe, but I’ll save that one for next week so you can get right to these amazing waffles.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles {{Baking Bytes}}

Not overwhelmingly pumpkin flavored with all the fluffy texture of your favorite Belgian waffle recipe, these are a delightful addition to your breakfast repertoire. The spice of pumpkin pie is subtle enough to blend with maple syrup but strong enough to enjoy them plain. Feel free to up the spices if you want them to be more prominent. I added a few mini chocolate chips to some of mine (as you can see in the pictures) but they are equally delicious without.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles {{Baking Bytes}}

Note: Because pumpkin is so moist, these waffles will likely need to cook slightly longer than your usual recipe so I recommend turning your waffle maker about a half step higher. However, if you use leftover batter on subsequent days it will not need to cook quite as long as the batter gets less fluffy. On about day three I found I was going back to my usual setting of 5 instead of the 5.5 I used on the first day.

Also, if you don’t want to make the leftovers on demand, it works pretty well to make them all at once and freeze them. Under cook them by a half step or so and let them cool on a wire rack. Then break them into halves or quarters (whichever will fit in your toaster) and pop them in the freezer. You may have to test a couple to see which toaster setting is best for you, but on mine roughly the middle of the dial was perfect. (You can also try defrosting them slightly in the microwave first if you’re concerned about them getting too crunchy before they’re warm all the way through.) If you have a toaster oven, I imagine that would work even better.

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles {{Baking Bytes}}

Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients; it’s an easy recipe despite quite a bit of measuring involved. Now, stop reading this and go make some waffles!

Pumpkin Belgian Waffles

Adapted from Cooking Classy
Makes about 8 waffles

Ingredients

2 ½ cups flour1
2 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg

4 eggs, separated
1 pinch cream of tartar

1 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices until completely combined. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whip egg whites and cream of tartar until medium-stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, milk, buttermilk, oil, pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla until completely combined.
  4. Gently whisk the milk mixture into the dry mixture until everything is moistened but still lumpy. Carefully fold in the egg whites (there should still be small puffs of egg white visible).
  5. Heat your waffle iron and spray with cooking spray if necessary. Add about 3/4 cup of batter and cook to desired doneness.
  6. Serve immediately with toppings of choice. (Maple syrup or butter and cinnamon & sugar are both excellent.)

Notes

1 I also think they’d be great if you substituted ½ cup of the flour with whole wheat flour.