Gingerbread Mini Muffins

I hinted to these bad boys yesterday. This was one of those "I saw it on pinterest and was immediately in my kitchen" kind of things. The recipe, coming from a pinch of yum, makes these as mini donuts. (I altered slightly, due to my lack absence of allspice.) Well, with a big sigh I say that I don't own a mini donut pan. And since making these, I have toiled with the thought of getting one. Even making up-in my head-a pro con list as to why or why not.

PRO: I love donuts.
CON: Its money that could be spent on something else used far more often.
PRO: I love mini donuts!
CON: Having a pan of this sort would cause me to want to use it to get my money's worth...thusly consuming far too many donuts.
PRO: They are baked donuts, so so much better than fried.
CON: They are still donuts.

So you see...its really just a toss up. But so far I've held out. Hence these guys became mini muffins instead. And really...still tasted awesome. All the steps were still the same and I, I mean we, got to enjoy a fun treat!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup flour
3/4 teas baking powder
1/4 teas baking soda
1 teas cinnamon
1 teas ginger
1/2 teas ground cloves
1/4 teas salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, dived
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce
2 tbls maple syrup
3 tbls milk, divided
4 tbls butter, divided
1/2 cup powdered sugar

*Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Mix in egg, applesauce, syrup, 1 tbls milk, and 2 tbls of the butter.
*Transfer batter to a ziplock bag and cut the corner off. Pipe into an already (cooking) sprayed pan filling each space 1/2 full.
*Bake at 350 for 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from pan onto cooling rack.
*In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tbls butter and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Let boil for 2 minutes then add 1 tbls of milk and bring back to a boil. Add the powdered sugar. If needed thin out with remaining milk.
*Turn down heat to low to keep glaze going. Dip each and let set.
*Enjoy/try not to eat all of them right away.

Breakfast Sandwich

So yes, I have already posted twice today. However, there was a reason for posting salsa and bread on the same day. Why you ask?? Two words...breakfast...sandwich. And I know you're like....Kati, we know how to make sandwiches!! But seriously, you should go over and make the bread and the salsa and then make one of these guys. I mean come on!! Fry up a couple eggs, melt some nice sharp cheddar cheese over them. Cut up some nice fresh avocado and then cover it all with some of the salsa and put it between two slices of toasty fresh bread....I mean!! Hello! That was one good lunch. Did I say that right? Yeah I had it for lunch. But really...I'd eat this whenever possible. So good.

Sausage & Pepper Frittata

Today, I am thankful for Bueller! My beagle puppy! Okay, so he's not a puppy anymore, he's 5. He's my spunky, wild, playful, adorable, talented, & sweet little best friend. The dog can show off with tricks, hoover his dinner in 30 seconds flat, and he follows me around the house from room to room like my shadow. I mean, come on. Love him. And being that most of my days are spent at home with this little guy...I think he's come to put up with me as much as I put up with him!

Over the weekend my husband and I got to enjoy a lazy Saturday. A full day (well almost) of just the two of us. What better way to start that day, than a brunch to please the masses. Frittata! This one had some diced up breakfast sausage and bell peppers. Its decently healthy, affordable, and more than edible. Check, check, check, aaand eaten. It makes about 5 servings and is great the next day or two when you want a hot breakfast without the effort.

 INGREDIENTS:
6 breakfast sausages
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teas crushed red pepper flakes
2 bell peppers, diced
1 small tomato, diced
1 teas dried basil
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella

*Cook the breakfast sausage until well browned, remove from pan.
*Preheat oven to 425.
*Heat the olive oil in the same pan, adding the garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for about a minute. Toss in bell peppers and tomato. While this cooks for a couple minutes, dice up your cooked sausage and then throw that in with everything else. Top with the basil and get everything working together for a few minutes.
*Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the 6 eggs with the milk. Once the veggies are ready, pour into the pan. Add cheese, reserving just a bit. Make sure everything is well distributed in the pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
*Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until browned on top. Wait for 5-10 minutes to serve.

Asparagus & Egg Lefse Sandwich

Al and I got to enjoy a relaxing weekend, spent mostly at home. We lounged around and did loads and loads of laundry. Sunday morning we decided we were going to splurge and go out for breakfast, a treat and a rarity these days. So we headed off to one of our favs, Takk For Maten. Picked out a few items and enjoyed them family style. There were forks and knives everywhere for the 8 minutes it took us to scarf down every last morsel. My personal favorite was the lefse sandwich I had. Ooooh! It was sooo good. This morning, I decided to recreate it for us. And I'd say it turned out stellar.

INGREDIENTS:
lefse
asparagus, chopped into pieces
eggs, scrambled or hard boiled&crushed
Jarlsberg cheese

*All depends on the lefse you have and how you want to fold it together. But its basically lefse with egg in the middle topped with asparagus pieces and then covered in some Jarlsberg. Fold the lefse over the top and fry. I cooked the asparagus a bit before putting it in the sandwich and it worked well. I would have used a panini press...had I had one.

Apple Donuts

So just a little update for everyone...on why there weren't many posts last week. Our happy little puppy, Bueller, got sprayed by a skunk! Ugh, and it seriously affected like everything! It was a rough week last week. But enough of that, back to food!

Its October, so that means apples are......everywhere. For those that read my post last weekend, this one has the same base recipe: beignets. When I made those last time it was way thinner then I thought it would be, so I added more flour and they came out more like donut holes. This go 'round, I followed the recipe exactly and then took apple slices and coated them in the batter, and fried as normal. After they cooled for a few minutes I then tossed them in cinnamon sugar. These were seriously divine!!! I brought them to church on Sunday and were gone so fast. Again, a bit time consuming but well well well worth it. It was like five steps up from mini-donuts....and to put it mildly I'm a mini-donut connoisseur. So make these. Seriously. Do it.

Beignets

I made these on this past weekend when desiring something sweet. I could not believe my little brown eyes when I saw that these were vegan! Not to mention honestly simple. If you have the time I totally suggest them. They were awesome. Kind of ended up more like a light donut consistency rather than beignets that we're all used to. (I mean, we have all had them right?! Right?!!?) I'm going to make these again soon, with sliced apples inside, cause that sounds down right superb!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teas salt
2 tbls sugar
4 teas dry active yeast
1 teas cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of water (120 - 130 degrees)
1/2 teas lemon juice
oil for frying(I used veg oil)
powdered sugar

*Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add water and lemon juice, stir until well blended. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for about 45 mins.
*Heat oil to 350 degrees(medium to medium-high heat). Drop in the batter in heaping spoonfuls. Once golden brown, flip over once. With a slotted spoon remove and place on a cooling rack with a paper towel.
*Serve with powdered sugar dusted on top.