Enticing Blueberry Coffee Cake

This is another great recipe giving to me by my friend Mary, who also gave me the Scandinavian Almond Bars recipe. She served this coffee cake at a brunch at her house last year. It looked so beautiful and yummy that I just had to have the recipe. The original recipe didn’t call for a glaze so I added that and I change the name. I added the word enticing, because that's what it does.

 I am so grateful for people like Mary who love to share their recipes. So many people try to keep them a secret. I will never understand why some people take their recipes with them to their graves. I believe so many great family recipes are lost that way. Remember that is why I started this blog in the first place because my daughters Brandy and Ariel wanted to know how to prepare all the great dishes that I have been making for them all these years.
And now because of this blog and all the work that I have put into it this blog and my recipes will live on way after I am gone.   And for those of you that are stilling holding on to your recipes so tight, I say let them go so that your recipes will also live on forever!

Enticing Blueberry Coffee Cake

1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, soften
½ cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Crumb Topping
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Glaze

½ cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons milk

 Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a spoon or spatula until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients blend until smooth. Spread batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with blueberries; set aside
To prepare crumb topping mix together 1/3 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over the blueberries in baking pan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack before serving.
For glaze: In a small bowl combine confectioners’ sugar and milk, blend with a spoon until smooth drizzle over cake and serve.

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Flakey Cinnamon Pinwheels

I have been on a few Carnival cruises in my life and one of the things I look forward to the most; besides sitting on the deck in a lounge chair with a book in one hand and a drink in the other  are these flaky little pastries. They serve them every morning at breakfast and I always eat one or two; ok! To tell you the truth it more like; four!

So the other day at the store I threw a box of puff pastry dough in my cart with the intention of using the dough for another recipe (which will come later). But this morning when I woke up I started thinking how I would just love to have some of those pastries from the cruise ship. After all it has been about six months since I last had them. Maybe I should bake them myself I thought after all it is cheaper than going on another cruise. But not as fun!

After they were done I woke Ariel up and told her that I had something special for her. I showed her my   flakey little treats and asked her do you remember having these on your last cruise.  To my surprise she said no! How can she not remember these! But she proceeded to eat the whole plate full; she said she just couldn’t stop at just one!

I will need to make these again; in the near future, because Richard didn’t get any that’s because he wasn’t home. But when he finds out that we ate them and didn’t save him any I will be in trouble.

Flakey Cinnamon Pinwheels

1 sheet of puff pastry dough; thawed
2 tablespoons butter; melted
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pre heat oven 300⁰F. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper and spray with cooking spray; set aside.

In a small; bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. On a floured cutting board unfold puff pastry. Brush dough with melted butter; then sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over top of melted butter. Starting from longest side carefully roll up dough; pinch seams together to close.  Cut into 15 slices and place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes.

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Sweet French Morning Muffins

When Richard and I first got married he had a collection of recipes that one of his teachers gave him, they were a collection of home economic recipes. I have made these recipes many times over the years; I have even featured a few here on my blog. This particular recipe I have misplaced over the years, but thanks to the internet my family and I can now enjoy them again. I found this recipe on many different sites on the web. And now thanks to the many people who post on the web not only my family but also yours can enjoy these muffins in the morning with a nice hot cup of coffee.

Sweet French Morning Muffins
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
½ cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
1/3 cup butter; melted

Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Lightly greased; a 12 cup muffin pan.
In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Make a well in center of the dry ingredients. Set aside.
In another small bowl slightly beat egg; stir in milk and melted butter; add liquid mixture to dry ingredients; stir slightly batter should be lumpy do not over mix. Fill prepared muffin cups half way full with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. While muffins are baking prepare topping.

Topping
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Place melted butter in a small bowl; set aside. In another bowl mix together sugar and cinnamon.
After baking immediately dip tops of muffins into butter and then into sugar cinnamon mixture. Serve warm.Pin It

Blueberry Pancake Muffins

Wow I have now posted 100 recipes on my blog! It has been an adventure in cooking, baking and blogging. What better way to celebrate than with a new recipe that my family will be enjoying for years to come. Thanks for all the great comments that I have received from family and friends and from my new blogging friends.


I buy my pancake mix by the bulk from Costco; and I sometimes wonder what else I can use it for besides pancakes and waffles. I went to Krusteaz web site and found a muffin blueberry muffin recipe; they used a pancake mix with the blueberries already in the mix, which I don’t have. So I change the mix to their regular pancake mix and added more water and frozen blueberries. My family says that they taste just like a blueberry pancake, I ate one with syrup and one with out I like the one with the syrup just a little bit more, Richard ate his without the syrup; Ariel ate 2 and that is saying a lot because she doesn’t care for blueberry pancakes, she is a pancake purest she loves to eat her pancake with nothing but maple syrup. I will defiantly be making these muffins again.

Blueberry Pancake Muffins
2 ½ cups pancake mix
¾ cup water
½ cup sugar
¼ cup oil
1 egg
1 ½ cups frozen or fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350⁰F. Spray 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl combine pancake mix, water, sugar, oil and egg; fold in blueberries until well combined. Fill muffin cups evenly with batter.
Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.Pin It

Blueberry Coffee Cake

I love blueberries! I made this coffee cake a few weeks ago, but I forgot to post it. I was looking through my files and found it, better a late posting than no posting at all. You will enjoy this coffee cake for breakfast with a nice hot cup of coffee. I know that I did!

Blueberry Coffee Cake
1½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, soften
½ cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Crumb Topping
2/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375⁰F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a spoon or spatula until light and fluffy. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients blend until smooth. Spread batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with blueberries; set aside

To prepare crumb topping mix together 2/3 cup sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter in a small bowl with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over the blueberries in baking pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack before serving.Pin It

French Toast Waffles

My two most favorite dishes to have for breakfast are waffles and French toast, when I found this recipe in my Joy of Cooking cookbook I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. What a fun way to serve French toast, no wait or is it waffles. Whatever you want to call them I just call them, DELISIOUS!

French Toast Waffles
3 eggs
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
6 slices white sandwich bread

Preheat waffle iron. Whisk together eggs, milk and butter. Coat the bread well in the egg mixture.

 Place in the hot waffle iron, close lid, and cook until the bread is a golden brown.Pin It

Country Sausage Skillet

One of my favorite things in the whole world is having breakfast for dinner. The first time I made this dish Brandy got here braces on the same day, she said that it wasn’t fair because she couldn’t eat any. That has to be over 12 years ago and many skillets later. If you aren’t daring enough to try making the egg wells you could always fry your eggs in a separate skillet and then lay the cooked egg on top of your potatoes. I know your family will be impressed when you make this dish. Mine was.

Country Sausage Skillet
1 pound ground sausage
4-5 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
3 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, diced
Season salt; to taste
5 eggs
½ cup grated cheddar cheese

In a large skillet over medium-high heat brown sausage and onion; drain, remove from skillet and set aside.

In same skillet add oil to skillet and cook potatoes until tender; add season salt to taste.

Return sausage and onion to skillet and combine with cooked potatoes; lower heat to low.

Make 5 wells in potato sausage mixture; carefully crack one egg into each well.

 Sprinkle with a little season salt; cover skillet with a lid and cook on low for 10 minutes, or until eggs are set.

Sprinkle with cheese, cover for 1 minute. Serve

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Honey Bun Cake

I have had this recipe in my collection for years, I don’t even remember where I got it, and all I know is that it is a keeper. The recipe does live up to its name it does tastes just like a honey bun. I was asked if I would bring a coffee cake to the Swap Until You Drop at my church, now here comes the hard decision which one should I bring, should I bake a cake to impress or should I go simple. Simple won out, simple is always best.

Now you are probably wondering what is a Swap Until you Drop. Let me try to explain the best way that I can. We had to bring 1 to 5 items that we no longer needed, use or want. We were giving clothes pins with our names on them; we then had to place our clothes pins on items that we wanted to take home. Hopefully no one else would put their clothes pin on the same item that you wanted; if they did there was a drawing to see who won that item.
I know you are going to enjoy this cake just as much as the ladies did this morning.

Honey Bun Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (8oz) container sour cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325⁰. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream  mix on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Pour half the batter into greased 9x13 inch baking pan.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter in the cake pan.

 Spoon the other half of the batter into the cake pan, covering the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Twirl the cake batter with a butter knife until it looks like a honey bun.

 Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean. Frost the cake while it is still hot. Serve warm.

To make frosting: In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, milk and the vanilla until smooth.

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French Toast with Caramelized Apples

For my birthday this week my daughter Brandy came home to spend the day with me. She brought home with her some cinnamon bagels and a loaf of bread. She bought the bagels from Panera’s, she said because she was there at closing time they gave her a loaf of bread also.

 She told me they give away their baked goods to their customers at closing because they don’t want to throw it out. I wonder if more people knew about this would they all show up at closing time? I decided to slice the bread into thick slices and make French toast.

Which use to be my favorite thing to eat for breakfast until I tasted those cinnamon bagels they are to die for, now I can’t wait until breakfast tomorrow so that I can eat another one. YUM! But today I enjoyed my once farvorite breakfast treat French Toast.

French Toast with Caramelized Apples

Topping
4 Granny Smith apples
¼ cup butter
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

French Toast
4 eggs
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
8 slices of bread (your choice)

For topping peel core and slice apple;

(I love using this apple peeler from Pampered Chef)

 place apples in a medium sauce pan. Add butter both sugars, water, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg.

 Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until apples are tender and sauce has thickened.

Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar in a medium size bowl.

 One at a time dip bread slices into egg mixture coating both sides;

place bread slices on a buttered hot skillet or electric skillet; brown on both sides.

Top with Caramelized Apples and Enjoy!

Here is Richard enjoying his breakfast in his t-shirt that he should be wearing in the gym. Good way to work-out those arms!

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Petite Caramel Pecan Rolls

I found these seamless Pillsbury Crescent dough sheets at the store the other day and started wondering what I could make with them. I went to the Pillsbury website and found this recipe. I didn’t have any pecans but that’s ok because Ariel doesn’t like nuts in her food. They turned out so yummy; they remind me of pecan twirls. I have been eating pecan twirls since I was a little girl, oh how I love pecan twirls. I would love it when my stepmom Gen would make them. They were her way of baking; she would add a dab of butter on top of each roll then heat them up in the oven. I could eat the whole pan back then just like I could have today with the petite caramel pecan rolls if I didn’t have to share them with Richard and Ariel.

Petite Caramel Pecan Rolls
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix brown sugar, butter and corn syrup; blend well. Spread in bottom of ungreased 8- or 9-inch round cake pan.

If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough and separate dough into 4 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough and cut into 4 rectangles.

In small bowl, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle mixture evenly over rectangles. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the pecans over each rectangle.

Starting at shorter side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll into 4 slices. Place cut side down over brown sugar mixture in pan.

Bake 20 to 27 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan 1 minute; turn upside down onto heatproof serving platter or foil. Serve warm or cool.

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Dutch Baby

Today was my family’s first time eating a Dutch baby and it won’t be our last. Today for breakfast I made two different versions and this recipe won. It reminds us of a popover; but on a larger scale. Like popovers the secret to the puff is a preheated oven and not to open the oven door while cooking. After cooking sprinkle with powder sugar and enjoy.

Dutch Baby
½ cup milk
2 eggs, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup all-purpose flour

Set rack in the lower third of oven and preheat the oven to 425⁰F.

Whisk together in a medium bowl milk, eggs and salt; add flour and whisk until smooth.

Melt butter in a 10 inch iron skillet or other ovenproof pan over medium heat.

Tilt the pan so that the butter coats the sides. Pour the egg mixture into skillet

and cook, without stirring, for 1 minute.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake 15 minutes without opening the door. Lower the heat to 350⁰F. And bake until the pancake is puffed and richly brown, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Sprinkle with powder sugar and serve immediately. Serves 2 to 4

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